Catherine Y. Lui

Cathy Lui concentrates on trade secrets litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in the tech, financial services, and retail industries. Cathy has a particular focus on obtaining and defending against temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions under exigent circumstances in fast-paced trade secret actions.

• Engagements

  Cathy's notable engagements include the following:

  • Fox v. Netflix.  Currently defending Netflix in a novel employee mobility case regarding the validity of fixed-term contracts used with business executives at Fox.
  • Zynga v. Scopely, Inc.  Defended Scopely, a gaming company, in defeating a TRO and preliminary injunction sought by Zynga in one of the first DTSA cases in Northern District of California.
  • Williams-Sonoma v. Arhaus.  Represented two subsidiaries of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in obtaining a preliminary injunction against a former executive and his new employer from using plaintiffs' trade secrets.  The court granted the injunction after a three-day evidentiary hearing in which Cathy conducted direct and cross-examinations of key witnesses. 
  • AllCells v. Cepheus.  Represented AllCells, a biotech company, in obtaining a preliminary injunction against a competitor formed by two former employees in one of the first DTSA cases in Northern District of California.
  • CP Kelco v. Yuan.   Defended an individual client against allegations of trade secrets relating to gellan gums and biogums.  Cathy served as second chair of a jury trial in San Diego Superior Court, and successfully limited plaintiff's recovery to less than four percent of the claimed $25M in damages.
  • State of Oregon v. Oracle.  Defended Oracle against a $6.6 billion breach of contract, fraud, false claims act, and civil RICO claims brought by the State of Oregon. The matter resolved very favorably to Oracle.   
  • Varian Medical v. Elekta.  Represented medical devices leader Varian in obtaining a preliminary injunction after an evidentiary hearing against its biggest competitor in a trade secrets action.  The injunction included the rarely-granted enjoinment that forced a senior VP of Elekta to stop sales activity related to Varian’s customers. 
  • Toyota Motor Credit Corporation v. Amera.  Successfully obtained preliminary injunction on behalf of Toyota against a former employee who misappropriated Toyota's trade secrets.