NEWS

Paul Hastings Represents IBM in Trade Secrets Victory

February 29, 2012

Palo Alto, CA (February 29, 2012) - Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that the firm represented IBM in a high stakes trade secrets suit involving Rapid Resume technology a feature in IBM computers that allows a computer to return to the screen it was previously on after it has been rebooted.

In 2010, Plaintiff Bruce Bierman brought suit against IBM, claiming he invented the technology behind Rapid Resume, but on Thursday, Paul Hastings Palo Alto partners Peter Stone and Jeffrey Randall obtained summary judgment in favor of client IBM on statute of limitations grounds, successfully persuading the court that Mr. Bierman's trade secrets suit was time-barred because he could not show that his deceased mother, who had owned his intellectual property for several years, was unaware of the IBM technology. Mr. Bierman traded the intellectual property rights back and forth from 1985 to 2010 while dodging personal bankruptcy. The court determined that Mr. Bierman had to show that each of the owners who assigned him the rights also did not have knowledge of the potential claims against IBM. Because Mr. Bierman's mother died in 1998, the judge found he could not show whether or not she knew of IBMs technology.

The case is Bierman v. IBM Corp. et al, and was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Paul Hastings Palo Alto partners Jeffrey Randall and Peter Stone led the Paul Hastings team that included San Diego associate Ericka Schulz, Orange County associate Tina Ashtiani, and Palo Alto associate Evan McLean.

Paul Hastings LLP is a leading global law firm with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. We provide innovative legal solutions to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Please visit www.paulhastings.com for more information.