At Workplace Legal, we know our clients’ business. We know that, for most of our clients, their trade secrets and other proprietary, confidential information are among their most valuable assets. In California, a “trade secret” is information that derives independent economic value from not being known to the general public and is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. This includes information like customer lists, secret recipes, manufacturing methods, marketing plans, pricing information, and company financial records.
Trade Secrets & Unfair Competition
Not only is this secret information highly valuable, it’s also easily moveable. Whereas machinery, heavy equipment, and other valuable physical assets are more stationary, trade secrets and other document-based assets are more mobile. Employees can easily email themselves a copy of your customer list or walk out of the office with a hard copy of your new marketing plan. Protecting this sensitive business information is critical to a company’s competitive advantage. That’s why it’s illegal in California, New York, and every other state for anyone to access, use, or disclose another party’s trade secrets without authorization.
In addition, California also makes it illegal for anyone to engage in any “unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent” business practice. The theft of trade secrets is without question an “unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent” business practice. As a result, when a California employee steals a company’s trade secrets before leaving, that employee frequently gets sued for misappropriating trade secrets and unfair competition. In addition, if that employee has since joined a competing company, that competing company may also get sued if it knew or should have known that its new employee was using their former employer’s trade secrets.
How Workplace Legal Can Help
Workplace Legal attorneys are experts at helping employers protect their trade secrets and other sensitive business information.
In our Counseling & Preventive Advice practice, Workplace Legal attorneys help clients identify what business information qualifies for “proprietary information,” “trade secret,” or other protection. Then, we design, draft, and implement policies and agreements to protect that information, from Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements to a more robust Proprietary Information and Innovations Assignment Agreement that contains intellectual property licensing and assignment language as well as non-solicitation, non-competition, and cooperation clauses.
Attorneys in our Counseling & Preventive Advice practice also provide strategic advice to clients when hiring C-suite or other high-level executives who are subject to a confidentiality agreement or other restrictive covenant from a prior employer, thus helping ensure that our client’s new executive can legally perform their new duties without violating any agreements with their prior employer. Conversely, attorneys in our Counseling & Preventive Advice also frequently advise departing executives who have questions about how their signed agreements with their existing employer could impact their ability to take a new position with a new company.
When a current or former employee has improperly taken a client’s trade secrets or other sensitive business information, attorneys in our Employment Litigation & Trials practice commence swift, aggressive litigation on behalf of our client. Initially, we seek an immediate, temporary injunction to stop any ongoing theft and to force the return of the stolen information. Thereafter, we continue the litigation and seek a permanent injunction and financial damages against the offending employee. In severe cases, rather than commencing civil litigation, we refer the matter to the county’s District Attorney for criminal prosecution.
In addition, attorneys in our Employment Litigation & Trials practice also defend C-Suite and other high-level executives who have been accused of unfair competition, the theft of trade secrets, and/or the breach of confidentiality/non-disclosure or other agreements.
And, finally, attorneys in our Workplace Investigations practice investigate allegations of trade secret theft. When warranted, we partner with digital forensic and IT experts to assist in our investigation and remediation efforts. Following the conclusion of the investigation, we counsel our client on its go-forward options, including disciplining the employee if still employed or commencing litigation against the employee (and potentially also their new employer) if not.
OTHER PRACTICE AREAS
