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Unfair Competition
- We provide representation in legal disputes and provide consultations on unfair competition actions, unlawful acquisition and disclosure of commercial (industrial) secret and compensation of damage in a sum of over EUR 15,000,000. The objects of disputes include actions/accusations regarding unlawful acquisition, disclosure and use of confidential information and commercial secret, solicitation of clients and employees, obtaining of unlawful competitive advantage, fulfilment of undertakings according to non-disclosure and non-compete agreements and compensation of damage (losses). We provide consultations on the application of specific means to ensure due protection of company's commercial secrets. We represent the interests of clients in lodging claims regarding the performance and termination of unlawful actions related to unfair competition or providing defence against such claims. We prepare agreements on the protection of confidential information and commercial secrets, non-compete agreements, conduct negotiations regarding the terms and conditions of the aforesaid agreements.
- In unfair competition cases, we defend the interests of the company against the performed unlawful actions of unfair competition, by associating the damage incurred by the company with the decrease in the prices of certain group of goods in Lithuania.
- In 2012 – 2016, Donata Markevičienė represented the interests of transport-forwarding company UAB Auto Express in unfair competition case where a completely new case-law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania has been formed as well as a precedent in the cases of such nature. New interpretations have been submitted in the case with regard to the following: (1) concept, formal characteristics and finalising of a commercial secret; (2) separation of commercial secrets from confidential information; (3) separation of legal consequences of the obligation to protect a commercial secret from legal consequences arising from non-compete agreements. In this civil case, the claimant has proved that, in cases of such type, the claimants shall have a simultaneous right to request the award of both the income foregone (in the form of net profit) and the property benefit received as a result of unlawful actions of defendants (in the form of net profit) (ruling of the Panel of 7 Judges of the Supreme Court of Lithuania of 5 February 2016 in civil case No 3K-7-6-706/2016). After the case was won in the Supreme Court of Lithuania, the defendants implemented the court decision in a benevolent and complete manner whereby the compensation of damage in the amount of EUR 60,000 (including litigation costs and interest) have been awarded (in the aforementioned case, the Claimant asked for compensation of only part of incurred damage).
- In 2014-2015, in unfair competition case, we managed to defend the interests of employee accused of takeover of commercial secret from the former employer (one of the largest wood processing companies) and disclosure of such secret to third persons. In the criminal case that was heard before the civil case, the employee admitted the performance of unlawful actions in full, admitted to have copied and unlawfully transferred the commercial data of former employer to a third person. A criminal order has been adopted and the employer was recognised as guilty for the unlawful monitoring, recording, takeover, acquisition, storage, embezzlement, dissemination and any other use of non-public electronic data. Despite the complicated nature of situation, we managed to reach a peaceful agreement on the takeover and disclosure of commercial secret of the value of EUR 434,000 by paying a compensation in the amount of only EUR 7,600.
- We have represented the interests of company engaged in consultations on the matters of business risk management, insurance and reinsurance in unfair competition case where we managed to prohibit the competing company and employees from using, transferring, publishing the claimant's information on the claimant's clients, partners, competitors, contact information of business partners, databases, commercial relations, claimant's expertise, terms and conditions of pending/concluded transactions, financial information, company's income, costs, settlement procedure and to award all the income foregone of the claimant (mediation fee) for the solicited clients. After the case was won in the first and appeal instances, the defendants implemented the court order in a benevolent and complete manner.
In unfair competition case, we managed to prove the unlawful use of commercial secrets of a legal person – data on company's clients. In the civil case, the property claims amounted to EUR 170,000 in net profit foregone. - We have represented the interests of the employee seeking for a legal use of commercial secrets and interests of former employer (after incorporation of a competing economic entity). The employee and the employer (a company engaged in accounting services) concluded an agreement on basis whereof the former employer allowed the former employee to use the data about employer's clients in a legitimated manner (data on contact persons, persons in charge of decisions, established business practice, technical information useful in performance of activities, service and quality requirements, planned projects, solvency, etc.).
- We represented and defended the interests of a logistics company in a case regarding unfair competition actions, unlawful acquisition and disclosure of commercial (industrial) secret and compensation of losses where the claimant was awarded all the direct losses incurred by the claimant due to unlawful actions of the competitor and former employee resulting in the solicitation of clients.
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