While not as prevalent as it may have been in the go-go days of the early 2000s, in certain industries in the United States, it is only a matter of time before a company will receive a patent demand or cease and desist letter.

This past April, I participated in a 7-person panel at the Fordham IP Institute comprised of lawyers with significant interest in the telecommunications industry.

In litigation, how much specific disclosure is required? During the course of a United States litigation — whether under the new, federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) or the older state-adopted Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)

Contrary to popular belief — especially among business owners — trade secrets are not only found in top secret, highly-secure research labs.

It is worth noting that many of the use cases for IoT that are currently receiving much attention (like connected cars), likely won’t fall into litigation because of SEP enforcement challenges.

I believe we may be due in the next two to three years for a large-scale re-eruption of the patent wars that have been a constant presence in the telecommunications industry since at least 2005.