We have talked about trade secrets, a type of intellectual property that has no government process of registration like copyrights or trademarks. Yet, trade secrets can be highly valuable and important to the success of a business. A trade secret is specific...
Trade Secrets
The use of nondisclosure agreements in trade-secret protection
Our law firm regularly helps businesses, corporations and entrepreneurs to protect their trade secrets from exposure to and misappropriation by competitors. We have written in this space before about the importance of trade secrets to commercial success and stressed...
Texas judge upholds large jury award in trade-secret case
Keeping trade secrets just that -- secret -- can make or break the success of a company. We have written in this space extensively about ways to keep a business's trade secrets safely away from the public or from competitors. One of those is to write ironclad...
Intellectual property rights in the restaurant industry
At our law firm, we advise California clients in the restaurant industry like owners and chefs about how to protect their valuable intellectual property. After all, food professionals invest significant creativity as well as money into their livelihoods. After...
California jury awards millions for trade-secret theft
In recent posts, we have discussed the difficulty of protecting trade secrets in this age of rapidly advancing technology. It is easier than ever for an employee or contractor to digitally abscond with valuable commercial secrets. On August 10, a Superior Court...
Impact of technology on trade-secret security
In recent posts, we have been discussing the nature of trade secrets, the importance of nondisclosure policies and agreements with employees and business partners, and the remedies provided under California law for trade-secret misappropriation. One of the reasons...
What does California law say about trade secret misappropriation?
Today we continue our discussion of trade secrets. Specifically, we will look more closely at what California statute says about trade secret misappropriation. California adopted its own version of the Uniform Trade Secret Act in 1984, with later amendments. Uniform...
How can a business owner or company protect trade secrets?
In our competitive markets, businesses often attribute actual or future commercial success to important information or processes unknown to competitors: trade secrets. California statute defines a trade secret as “information, including a formula, pattern,...
Dow sues Turkish company over opaque-paint trade secrets
At our law firm, we advocate for clients with ownership interests in trade secrets, meaning private information confidentially held that has economic or commercial value to the owner. Think, for example, of a manufacturing technique or chemical formula. We use a...
The basics of a trade secret
Businesses both small and large want to protect the information or know-how that is crucial to their financial success and sustained future. Sometimes this information is in the public sphere, but protected by law. In other situations, the information is kept...