Trade Secret Litigation Today: Cutting-Edge Issues for Every Litigator

Prior to joining Farmobile, Joan was a partner in Husch Blackwell LLP’s Kansas City office. Well-known for her legal accomplishments in food and agribusiness, while in private practice, she counseled clients on intellectual property and licensing matters, food safety regulations, and data privacy. She also is a seasoned intellectual property and commercial trial attorney.

Joan has repeatedly been recognized by Super Lawyers in the area of intellectual property litigation and has been named one of the top 50 female attorneys in Kansas and Missouri and top 100 attorneys in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Joan is involved in a leadership role with the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation.

A tireless advocate for farmers’ data rights, Joan is a frequent speaker at AgTech conferences.

David Caves leads a complex civil litigation practice with a focus on high-stakes commercial and IP disputes. David is an experienced trial and appellate advocate who has litigated significant matters in courts and arbitral arenas throughout the United States. He has extensive experience managing complex, multi-jurisdiction litigation and works with clients to develop litigation strategies to efficiently and aggressively position matters for a successful resolution. David advises clients on a range of complex matters, with a particular focus on disputes involving trade secrets, copyright and trademark infringement, patents, non-competition agreements, antitrust, RICO, and insurance coverage.

David graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and Northwestern University. He joined the firm in 2016 from a trial-focused litigation boutique and is an original member of the firm’s Chicago office. David is the current chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. He is active in several bar organizations, currently serving as a co-chair of the American Bar Association’s IP Litigation Trade Secrets Committee.

Joel Bush concentrates his practice in the area of complex commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on information technology and software disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, commercial contracts, business torts, restrictive covenant, and technology license disputes. Mr. Bush has litigated disputes arising out of computer hardware installations, software implementations, network design projects, and other technology implementations.

Mr. Bush has handled many disputes involving technology or software matters, including claims arising out of technology implementation projects for ERP, CRM, supply chain, data processing, inventory control, human resource automations, transportation automations, point of sale, logistics, demand response, and storage and systems management functionalities. He has represented both customers and vendors in these disputes, and with roughly equal experience on both sides.

Mr. Bush regularly represents software and technology companies in claims based on fraud, breach of contract, and negligence arising out of implementation problems, network design issues, software performance, and system compatibility problems. He has represented employers and employees in disputes arising out of restrictive covenant agreements. Mr. Bush routinely litigates trade secret disputes and he has particular experience in trade secret claims arising out of software development. Mr. Bush also represents commercial parties in contract, indemnity, and related claims. He has appeared in federal and state courts and is also experienced in arbitration.

Mr. Bush joined the firm in 1993. Mr. Bush has been recognized as a Georgia "Super Lawyer" in General Litigation by Super Lawyers magazine. He was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America? in 2017 and 2018 for Technology Law, in 2019 and 2020 for Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Technology Law, and in 2021 for Commercial Litigation, Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Technology Law. Mr. Bush was recommended by Legal 500 US in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for Trade Secrets Litigation. He was named to Georgia Trend's "Legal Elite" in 2013 for General Practice and is AV? rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*

John A. Stone is a partner at the DeCotiis’ New Jersey and New York offices. Mr. Stone’s practice focuses on complex business matters, including trade secret and other intellectual property litigation, unfair competition and tortious interference claims, construction, land use, and intra-company disputes, in State and Federal Court. He has particular expertise in complex litigation and takes pride in getting results for his clients.

Mr. Stone received his B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College, his J.D. from the University of Richmond, Virginia, and studied International Law at Cambridge University.

Mr. Stone is a frequent lecturer at seminars and nationwide and international conferences regarding trade secrets, trade dress, and theft of ideas, and has published numerous articles on those and other issues. He is also co-chair of the ABA’s Litigation Section’s Trade Secrets Subcommittee and co-editor of the ABA’s Litigation Section’s Intellectual Property Newsletter.