Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Avoiding Trade Secret Losses During Corporate Collaboration
Effective corporate collaborations — whether close customer relationships, supplier partnerships or formal joint ventures — demand that sensitive information be shared. Without proper agreements and well-defined boundaries, however, those corporate collaborations can lead to loss of trade secret protection and entangle the parties in litigation.
Protect Trade Secrets Through Controlled Sharing Subject to Confidentiality Agreements
Generally, to be a trade secret, information must: 1) be secret, not generally known or readily ascertainable; 2) have value arising from the fact that it is secret; and 3) have been subject to reasonable steps to ensure that it remains secret. Therefore, when trade secret information is shared outside a company, including with customers, appropriate safeguards must be put in place to maintain that information as a trade secret. As the cases discussed below illustrate, it is fundamental that there be a well-scoped confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in place before trade secrets are shared with collaborators and potential collaborators.
In Madison Oslin v. Interstate Res., No. MJG-12-3041, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37587 (D. Md. Mar. 25, 2015), the court found the alleged trade secrets were not trade secrets in part because they had been shared with prospective and current customers without the protection of a confidentiality agreement. Similarly, in Prostar Wireless Group v. Domino's Pizza, 360 F. Supp. 3d 994 (N.D. Cal. 2018), the court found that the alleged trade secrets relating to the architecture of Prostar's pizza delivery tracking system were not secret, where Prostar had shared conceptual design overviews and technical specifications for its system with pizza and IT companies without nondisclosure agreements in place.
This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
- Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
- Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
- Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Bit Parts
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.