Michael C. Chow

Partner

Orange County


Read full biography at www.orrick.com

Michael Chow, a partner in the Orange County office, is a member of the Intellectual Property Group. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, with experience in patent litigation, including damages and other remedies arising from patent litigation.

Michael has worked on matters for companies including Canon Inc., Ricoh, Panasonic, eBay, eBay Enterprise, Foxconn, Robert Bosch, Realtek, Anker, Fujitsu Limited, and NVIDIA Corporation covering technologies such as eCommerce, Bluetooth, automotive technology, optical networking and telecommunication, graphics processing, and signal equalization.

Prior to law school, Michael was a mechanical engineer with M-E Engineers, Inc., in Culver City, Calif., where he designed the HVAC systems, including sizing equipment and devising airflows, for hospitals, sporting venues, and office buildings. His projects included Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier, Calif., and Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Posts by: Michael Chow

“Aloha” to Federal Jurisdiction Over Trade Secrets Claims

As two recent cases show, how one pleads its case under the Defend Trade Secrets Act can be the difference between whether “aloha” means hello or goodbye to federal jurisdiction.

A district court in Hawaii recently dismissed a plaintiff’s claim under the DTSA because it failed to establish subject matter jurisdiction.  In that case, DLMC, Inc., a health care service provider for elderly and infirm residents of Hawaii, accused a former employee of stealing client lists.  The cause of action under the DTSA was the only federal claim in the complaint and, therefore, the only basis for federal jurisdiction.  However, to plead a cause of action under the DTSA, the trade secret must be “related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce.”  The only argument DLMC made as to this required nexus was that its clients “have federal patient identification numbers so as to allow for their receipt of federal funds for the services provided to them by [DLMC].”  DLMC also argued that because it was an entity whose very existence relies on and is conditioned upon federal application, certification and approval,” its services “are subject to federal law….”  Neither of these arguments persuaded the court as they both failed to show whether and how the alleged trade secrets themselves (as opposed to DLMC’s business generally) related to interstate commerce.  The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, however, with leave for DLMC to amend its complaint to allege a DTSA (or other federal) claim. READ MORE

Failing to Prepare Is Preparing to Fail

A recent case from the Federal Circuit upholding a jury’s finding in favor of defendant offers lessons to both defendants and plaintiffs on preparing for trade secrets misappropriation actions. Both plaintiff, Raytheon, and defendant, Indigo, are companies in the infrared imaging equipment business. Of the four Indigo founders, three of them were former Raytheon employees, causing Raytheon to accuse Indigo of misappropriating its trade secrets. Specifically, Raytheon accused Indigo of using Raytheon’s sequential vacuum bake recipes and in situ solder seal package assembly process taken by the former Raytheon employees to develop Indigo’s recipes and processes. READ MORE

One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Trade Secret? Idaho Supreme Court Rules Against Appellant Waste Disposal Company In Bid to Protect Contract Proposal As Trade Secret

In a case more notable for the fact that it reached Idaho’s Supreme Court than the final decision, the lower court’s dismissal of the plaintiff waste disposal company’s misappropriation of trade secrets claim was affirmed.

In July of 2012, the defendant County of Idaho (“the County”) solicited proposals for a contract to provide waste disposal services to part of the county that was being served by the plaintiff Walco, Inc. (“Walco”). Both Walco and the other defendant, Simmons Sanitation Service, Inc. (“Simmons”), submitted envelopes containing their respective proposals. READ MORE