Types of Trade Secret Information
- financial data
- technique
- formula
- pattern
- program
- method
- drawing
- process
- technical data
- list of customers
Trade Secret Requirements
- Valuable
- Not publicly known
- Reasonable efforts are used to maintain secrecy
Trade Secret Form
Form doesn’t matter, it will be protected by the UTSA
Ways to Protect Trade Secrets
- lock and key
- password and encryption
- limited access
- non disclosure agreements
- non compete agreements
- non solicitation agreements
NDAs
Information that can’t be disclosed, may not receive protection for generalized information
Implied Agreement of Confidentiality
- based on conduct of parties
- pitch to bank
- pitch to company
Better practice - use evaluation/submission agreement
First Protection
Trade Secret is the first protection
Trade Secret Laws
- Uniform Trade Secrets Act
- Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016
- Protecting American IP Act of 2022
Uniform Trade Secrets Act
- 47 states
- owner of trade secret can sue for theft
- court can order injunction, money damages, and/or attorney fees
Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016
Allows owner of trade secret to sue in federal court when trade secret has been misappropriated
Protecting American IP Act of 2022
Protects against foreign trade secret theft
Trade Secret Misappropriation
- Possession, disclosure, or use of trade secret without authority
- Wrongful acquisition of info
Defenses to Misappropriation
- not a trade secret
- independent creation
- innocence (didn’t know it was wrongfully acquired)
- permission to use it
Remedies to Misappropriation
- injunction
- seizure
- money damages (actual losses, punitive damages)
- attorney’s fees and costs
Unfair Competition Laws
- dilution
- passing off
- right of publicity
- false adversities
Right of Publicity
- protected under state law
- right to use name, likeliness, image, voice for commercial purposes
- defenses: Free speech, parody
False Advertising
- product disparagement, Trade libel
- protected under State and Federal Law (Lanham Act)
Requirements
- false or misleading statements about own or another’s product
- statements are material
state law: actual injury
Lanham act: likelihood of injury and interstate commerce
Defense: Puffery, truth
Trade Secret Protection Program
- identify trade secrets
- implement means of protection
- eduction
- management and monitory
Trade Secrets Duty of Confidentiality
Implied when special relationship or evince that disclosure was in confidence
