Eric Ostroff

Practice Areas

Trade Secrets & IP, Commercial Litigation, Employment, Trial Practice

Career

Eric Ostroff serves as Managing Partner of Meland Budwick and Chair of the firm’s Trade Secrets and IP Group. He focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and trade secrets and IP matters.

He regularly litigates a broad range of business disputes, including cases involving breaches of contract, business torts, officer/director fiduciary duties, business defamation, civil conspiracy, unfair competition, false advertising, real estate, and deceptive and unfair trade practices. He also represents plaintiffs and defendants in trademark and copyright infringement actions. Eric is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried many cases to verdict, before judges, juries, and arbitration panels.

Eric is nationally recognized for his expertise in trade-secrets and noncompete cases. He helps businesses protect their trade secrets and proprietary information, both before and during litigation. He works with businesses to identify their trade secrets and ensure that they are taking all steps necessary to protect this critical information.

Professional Memberships

The Sedona Conference Working Group on Trade Secrets, Steering Committee Member, Drafting Team Co-Chair, and Dialogue Leader

American Intellectual Property Law Association, Trade Secrets Committee and Trademark Litigation Committee

Section of Litigation, American Bar Association

Trial Lawyers Section, The Florida Bar

Member, Dade County Bar Association

Publications

• The Sedona Conference, Protecting Trade Secrets in Litigation About Them, March 2022

• “Protecting Trade Secrets” blog protectingtradesecrets.com

• “Lessons for Employers from Obama’s Push Back Against Noncompetes,” Daily Business Review, December 9, 2016

• “The ‘George Costanza Defense’ to Stealing Trade Secrets, Entrepreneur,” October 21, 2014

• “Avoid These 6 Mistakes When Safeguarding Proprietary Information,” Entrepreneur, June 20, 2014

• “Seeking Trade Secret Protection? Don’t Rely on a Label.,”Entrepreneur, May 12, 2014

• “5 Ways to Shrink the Threat of an Employee’s Exit to Proprietary Info,” Entrepreneur, April 29, 2014

Work Highlights

Intellectual Property:

• Represented a U.K.-based manufacturer of a spray-on, liquid, peelable coating that is used globally to protect surfaces during construction. Meland Budwick brought suit in federal court against its former U.S. distributor, as well as related entities, who we allege stole the formula and manufacturing process for our client’s primary product. We asserted claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, conversion, and civil conspiracy. This case settled on confidential terms.

• Represented a professional sports league in a trademark infringement action filed by a competing league in the Southern District of New York. This matter settled on confidential terms.

• Represented a leading national provider of healthcare through Medicare Advantage plans, operating in a number of states, in a suit against the companies’ former regional medical director who left to work for a competitor. The suit alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract. This matter settled on confidential terms.

• Represented Unity Jets in a trade-secrets lawsuit brought by NetJets Aviation, Inc. in the Southern District of Ohio. This matter settled on confidential terms.

Commercial Litigation:

• Lead counsel representing IRA Financial Trust, LLC, a South Dakota-based leading provider of self-directed retirement accounts, in a number of matters around the country arising from the criminal theft of $37 million in crypto assets from IRA’s customers. This includes successfully defending IRA in a nationwide class action filed in the Northern District of California; bringing a claim against the Gemini crypto exchange (owned by the Winklevoss brothers of Facebook fame) in the Southern District of New York; defending against dozens of arbitrations filed with the AAA and JAMS by customers across the country; and dealing with various regulators.

• Acting as primary outside counsel to the Piper Aircraft Corporation Irrevocable Trust. Meland Budwick represents the trust in litigation and is currently representing the Trust in connection with matters in the UK, Texas, and California.

• Representing Caribbean Entertainment Technologies in District of Utah, against Snap One, LLC, a publicly traded company in connection with a breach of an agreement to make CET the exclusive dealer of home-security products to the state-owned telecommunications company in Trinidad and Tobago.

Experience

Eric regularly litigates a broad range of business disputes, including cases involving breaches of contract, business torts, officer/director fiduciary duties, business defamation, civil conspiracy, unfair competition, false advertising, real estate, and deceptive and unfair trade practices. He also represents plaintiffs and defendants in trademark and copyright infringement actions. Eric is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried many cases to verdict, before judges, juries, and arbitration panels.

Education