Ryan Landes

Ryan Landes has a track record of obtaining significant outcomes in trade secrets matters, including injunctions, terminating sanctions and favorable settlements for plaintiffs, while also successfully defending against substantial claims on behalf of defendants, including in cases with 8- and 9-figure claims.

One of the major cases in which Landes played a pivotal role was defending agricultural startup Farmer's Business Network (FBN) against a trade secret misappropriation claim brought by the multinational corporation Syngenta. Syngenta Seeds, LLC v. Warner, et al. 20-cv-01428 (D. Minn., filed June 22, 2020).

Landes secured a complete victory on summary judgment, disposing of all claims against FBN, for which Syngenta had sought tens of millions of dollars in damages. The case emerged from FBN hiring a former Syngenta employee with expertise in statistical and genetic techniques for corn breeding.

"Defeating trade secret claims pre-trial can be difficult, but we were persistent from the beginning of the case in forcing Syngenta to articulate what its alleged trade secrets actually were," Landes said. "That was critical because as we moved through fact and expert discovery, we systematically established that everything Syngenta was claiming as a trade secret either was not secret at all, or was not misappropriated (or both) -- and we had good grounds to oppose when Syngenta tried to change its case theories in response."

Another significant case in which Landes played a key role was representing the autonomous driving company WeRide, which asserted trade secret misappropriation and related claims against its former CEO, former lead engineer, and the new company they established. WeRide Corp. v. Wang, et al. , 5:18-cv-07233 (N.D. Cal., filed Nov. 29, 2018).

The case ultimately settled under favorable confidential terms after the court issued two preliminary injunctions and terminating sanctions against the defendants. Landes played a critical role in the case, leading the factual development, arguing preliminary injunction motions, managing the discovery process related to defendants' spoliation and leading the briefing and argument efforts for the successful terminating sanctions motion. The court's decisions in this case have had a notable impact on trade secret matters in recent years.

One challenge Landes and his team faced in the Syngenta case was Syngenta's effort to seek issue sanctions arising from alleged spoliation. "It is becoming more common in trade secret cases for plaintiffs to seek spoliation sanctions, especially since the Northern District of California's comprehensive decision issuing terminating sanctions in WeRide v. Wang following a particularly extreme case of defendants' spoliation," said Landes.

In terms of trends within the trade secrets field, Landes said, "I expect the main trend to watch will be the interplay between the rise in trade secret litigation and legislatures nationwide seeking to protect employee mobility by restricting the availability of non-compete agreements. The tension between these two themes creates pitfalls for plaintiffs, defendants, and courts trying to reconcile often competing principles."

Aside from his legal work, Landes is also notable for his involvement in the board of 826 National, an organization that supports teaching children to become better and more creative writers. This demonstrates his commitment to education and community engagement.