Rebecca Jo Edelson

Rebecca (“Bec”) Edelson is a partner in the Intellectual Property and Litigation Practice Groups and leads the firm's Trade Secrets Team. Bec prides herself in providing creative solutions that meet her clients’ business and budget goals.

Areas of Practice

Bec represents businesses in intellectual property, unfair competition and injunction matters. She handles all phases of state and federal litigation, including pre-trial development, discovery and motion practice, trials, writs and appeals. She also counsels businesses on how to proactively protect their proprietary rights and information to minimize the risk of litigation.

Bec represents clients in a variety of industries, including the entertainment, aerospace, energy, retail, fashion, financial, medical technology, biotech, computer, panel-maker, database, toy, jewelry, heavy/industrial equipment, lighting technology, insurance, food and travel and leisure industries, among others.

Bec routinely publishes and speaks on trade secret issues. She is co-editor and co-author of the treatise, Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California, published by the State Bar of California, as well as its 2017 supplement on the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). She also contributed to an English language handbook on trade secret litigation in the United States created for the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.

Bec served from 2015-2016 on the Board of Directors for the Century City Chamber of Commerce. She also served as the 2004-2005 Chair of the Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California, and is former Chair of its Trade Secrets and Grants Subcommittees.

Honors

Recipient, Century City Chamber of Commerce’s Women of Achievement Award - Law, 2004

Insights

Articles

•Does COVID-19 threaten your trade secrets? (Yes, it does) (Part 2)
Daily Journal, 04.29.2020
•Does COVID-19 threaten your trade secrets? (Yes, it does) (Part 1)
Daily Journal, 04.28.2020
•Intellectual Property in the Cannabis Industry - Protecting Innovations and Products, Parts I and II
Cannabis Business Executive, 12.2019
•Ruling Makes it Easier to Block a Competitor's FOIA Access to Confidential Information
Daily Journal, 07.05.2019
•Do Not Give NDAs the Short Shrift
The Licensing Journal, 05.2019
•Access to a competitor's confidential information?
Daily Journal, 04.17.2019
•NDA Tips, Traps and Pitfalls: Best Practices Avoid Common Errors
The Recorder, 04.11.2018
•Federal DTSA Versus California UTSA
California Business Law Practitioner, Vol.32, No. 2, Spring 2017

Co-Editor and Contributing Author of Treatise, Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California, Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California, November 2014

People Will Talk: Protecting Trade Secrets in the World of Social Media, Corporate Counsel, November 18, 2010

Best Kept Secrets: Handling Confidential Employee Information, Los Angeles Daily

Government Contracts, Investigations & International Trade Blog Posts

• OH SNAP! Supreme Court Rejects Substantial Competitive Harm Test For Key FOIA Exemption, June 26, 2019
• OH SNAP! Supreme Court to Take on Meaning of Key FOIA Exemption, April 2, 2019

Intellectual Property Law Blog Posts

• A Cautionary Trade Secrets Tale: Failure To Preserve Potentially Relevant Evidence, May 6, 2020

• 6 Steps to Protect Your Trade Secrets During Covid-19 Layoffs, April 30, 2020

• COVID-19 and Trade Secrets: Is Your Business Prepared to Protect its Trade Secrets While Your Employees Work From Home? March 24, 2020
• 3 Steps in Furtherance of Avoiding Devastating Spoliation Sanctions in Trade Secret Misappropriation Litigation, December 5, 2019
• Don’t Spill Your Trade Secrets: Protecting Your Competitive Advantage in the Food and Beverage Industry (Part 2 of 2), July 22, 2019
• Don’t Spill Your Trade Secrets: Protecting Your Competitive Advantage in the Food and Beverage Industry (Part 1 of 2), July 17, 2019
• A Cautionary Tale: Don’t Wait Until There Is A Problem To Protect Your Trade Secrets, May 2, 2019
• Do NOT Give NDAs the Short Shrift, April 5, 2019
• UPDATE: The Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act vs. The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, March 26, 2018
• The Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act vs. The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, July 21, 2016

Books

•The Defend Trade Secrets Act Supplement to Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California
2017
•Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California
11.2014

Media Mentions

•Sheppard Mullin's Gross Revenue Growth Continues
The Recorder, 03.01.2017
•Sheppard Mullin Nabs IP Pro Duo From Steptoe & Johnson
Law360, 06.02.2016

Speaking Engagements

• The Evolution of Entertainment: Timeless Content, New Media, 9th Annual Jewish Executive Leadership Conference, February 23, 2020
• Hot Topics in Trade Secret Litigation: the DTSA, Remedies, Anti-SLAPP, and Constitutional Issues, 43rd Annual IP Institute, California Lawyers Association, November 8, 2018
• Hot Topics in Trade Secret Law, State Bar of California, July 14, 2015
• Trade Secrets of Trade Secrets, 38th Annual IP Institute of the State Bar of California, November 7, 2013
• Litigating the Trade Secret Case, Bridgeport Continuing Education, May 17, 2013
•Panelist, Obtaining Injunctive Relief in Trade Secret Cases, 37th Annual IP Institute of the State Bar of California, November 8, 2012
• Why Every Lawyer Should Know More About Trade Secret Law, 36th Annual IP Institute of the State Bar of California, November 12, 2011

Events

•ACC Southern California In House Counsel Conference
Choosing Between Patent And Trade Secret Protection: When, Why And How?, Universal Hilton, 01.23.2020

•ACC-SFBA Patent Law Committee Meeting
Choosing Between Patent and Trade Secret Protection: When, Why and How, Palo Alto, 12.11.2019

•ACC-SFBA Patent Law Committee Meeting Sponsored
Choosing Between Patent and Trade Secret Protection: When, Why and How, Sheppard Mullin San Francisco, 12.10.2019