Nearly everyone in the cybersecurity community found themselves contemplating leaving an employer, been offered an opportunity to really stretch their wings as part of a start-up or just become fed-up with their current work environment. While many of us are masters of technology few of us have a good understanding of what comes next when planning to leave one company and move to the next. Does your employment agreement allow you to take the next job or jump on that great opportunity? Are you going to be able to go to a company that your employer sees as a competitor or live that startup dream?
We'll present real cases involving competing with a former employer, soliciting work from a current client at your new company and how to protect intellectual property you bring to a new employer. You'll hear from a computer forensics investigator on where people typically go wrong when transitioning from one employer to the next and from a technology and intellectual property attorney on the real legal outcomes of those cases.
Commonly misunderstood concepts like "work for hire" and "right to work" will be explained. We'll talk attendees through the working details of non-compete agreements, operating agreements between tech company founders and what to do when it all goes wrong. Finally, we'll discuss what you should do after having left a previous employer and you receive an angry letter saying that you've violate multiple agreements and are about to be sued down to your socks. You'll leave the session better understanding of the details of your non-compete or employment agreement and what is enforceable versus hot air.
Greg Stone is a partner and serves as Co-Chair of Whiteford Taylor Preston's Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group. With over 20 years of experience in the patent and general intellectual property fields, including his tenure as a United States Patent Examiner in the general mechanical and biomedical device arts, Greg has developed significant substantive depth and a wealth of experience that have earned him a reputation as a trusted, practical, and highly effective intellectual property advisor to clients ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500 companies. He has been recognized over multiple years as one of the "Best Lawyers in America" and as a Maryland "Super Lawyer," and is very active in the regional technology community, including by serving as a board member of the Maryland Tech Council. In serving as Co-Chair of the firm's Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group, he has helped to lead that group to recognition as one of only twenty-four firms nationwide that have been ranked in the top tier for Technology by U.S. News & World Report.
Brian Dykstra has over 21 years experience in investigations, computer forensics, incident response, network and wireless security testing and information security policy. Before founding Atlantic Data Forensics, Mr. Dykstra was the CIO & Director of Professional Education and a founding member of Mandiant, where he was responsible for the development and management of numerous advanced computer security and cybercrime investigation courses. While at Mandiant, Mr. Dykstra annually trained over 400 FBI Cyber Crime agents as well as many state and local investigators through a series of highly acclaimed cybercrime investigation courses as Mandiant's Chief Information Officer (CIO).