Business organizations need ideas and/or connections that provide competitive advantages. A company’s trade secrets can include proprietary manufacturing processes, client lists, vendor lists, unique recipes and other non-public information.
Trade secrets can help a company compete more effectively by limiting costs or offering something that competitors cannot. Trade secrets are incredibly valuable, and business leaders often go to great lengths to protect them from infringement by outside parties. In fact, the value of non-public information and the steps taken to keep that information private are part of what make it available for intellectual property protection as a trade secret.
Occasionally, employees who have started their own competing businesses, former business partners and even companies that provided support services or raw materials to an organization may infringe on a company’s trade secrets. Business litigation can help resolve disputes related to trade secret disclosure and misuse.
What solutions can judges offer?
Trade secrets theoretically have protection as a valuable form of intellectual property. Unlike copyrights or trademarks, formal registration of trade secrets is not necessary for legal protection. Business leaders need documentation showing that the information isn’t public, that it provides an economic advantage and that the organization has taken steps to protect its trade secrets.
Contracts and appropriate decisions regarding access to trade secrets are two of the top ways for leaders to protect non-public information. Lawsuits can help deter trade secret violations and compensate companies for the damage caused by trade secret disclosures.
In many cases, trade secret litigation focuses on violations of contracts. If a business partner or employee signed a nondisclosure or non-compete agreements, sharing trade secrets with others could constitute an actionable contract breach.
Even without a written agreement explicitly prohibiting certain activities, the courts can potentially issue injunctions intended to prevent additional disclosures that could damage a company’s competitive advantage. In scenarios where the misuse or disclosure of trade secrets has already caused verifiable economic harm, it may be possible to request an award of damages.
Reviewing the nature of the trade secret disclosure and the type of relationship between the business and the other party at issue with a skilled legal team can provide insight into the forms of relief available. A successful lawsuit against a former employee or business partner can limit trade secret disclosure and help parties recoup the losses triggered by the release of non-public information.