Rebecca Edelson

Partner

• redelson@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Century City Office

Rebecca Edelson is a partner in the Century City office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and leads the firm’s trade secret practice.  Her practice emphasizes intellectual property (including trade secrets, trade dress, trademark, patent, and copyright), unfair competition, and injunctions.  She has broad experience in all phases of state and federal litigation, including pre-trial development, discovery and motion practice, trials, writs, and appeals.  She also counsels businesses on protecting their proprietary rights and information outside of the litigation context.

Ms. Edelson has represented clients in connection with diverse industries, including the financial, medical technology, biotech, computer, database, toy, fashion, jewelry, industrial equipment, retail, entertainment, lighting technology, and travel and leisure industries.

Ms. Edelson served as the 2004-2005 Chair of the Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California, and is a past chair of its trade secrets and grants subcommittees.  She continues to volunteer her time to organize educational programs for the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California.   Ms. Edelson was also a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel from 2005 to 2009 and served as Vice Chair of its Intellectual Property Section as well as a member of its Diversity Committee.  She also previously served on the Steering Committee of the Century City Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Council and is a 2004 recipient of the Century City Chamber of Commerce’s Women of Achievement award in the area of law. Ms. Edelson was selected for inclusion in editions of Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in American Law.

Ms. Edelson also is a co-editor and an author of the treatise, Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California, published by the State Bar of California. She also has published articles on copyright law, trade secret law, and business blackmail.  She has lectured on trade secret protection, copyright, and First Amendment law, as well as litigation strategies and techniques.

Ms. Edelson’s pro bono work on behalf of various organizations includes litigation as well as lobbying on behalf of a proposed city ordinance which she helped draft.   Ms. Edelson has worked on Steptoe’s “Action for Children of Trafficking” pro bono project and on Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

Select News & Events

• “Why Every Lawyer Should Know More About Trade Secret Law," 36th Annual IP Institute of the State Bar of California, November 12, 2011
• Intellectual Property and Privacy in the Workplace: The Employee's Right to Privacy vs. Employer's Right to Monitor Behavior: Recent Developments in Employee Privacy Law and Their Impact on Trade Secret Protection, Law Seminar International, September 21, 2011
• Bec Edelson to Speak on Trade Secret Law at State Bar of California Seminar, June 27, 2011
• IPWatchdog Interviews Rebecca Edelson and Brian Winterfeldt on IP and Social Media
• Steptoe Partner Speaks on "Managing Voluntary and Involuntary Departures: Effective Security Measures for Maintaining Trade Secrets" at the Departing Employees and Intellectual Property Seminar, May 19, 2010
• Moderator, Panel on “Hidden Assets: Intellectual Property Rights in Designs” at State Bar of California IP Law Section’s IP Institute, November 13, 2009
• Steptoe Partner Moderates Panel on “Protection and Theft of Ideas,” at State Bar of California IP Law Section’s “Intellectual Property in Entertainment and Media” Conference, June 25, 2009
• Rebecca Edelson Quoted in Ms Magazine, "Feminists Fight Proposition 8"

Selected Publications

• Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California Supplement (2011), Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California
• "People Will Talk: Protecting Trade Secrets in the World of Social Media"
  November 18, 2010, Corporate Counsel
• Rebecca Edelson, "Best Kept Secrets: Handling Confidential Employee Information," Los Angeles Daily Journal, July 30, 2009
• Rebecca Edelson, Co-Editor and Contributing Author of Treatise, "Trade Secret Litigation and Protection in California," Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California
  June 2009

Professional Affiliations

• State Bar of California Intellectual Property Section