CHICAGO, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Examples of trade secrets in the life sciences include drug compounds, formulations, routes of synthesis, manufacturing details, protein production/isolation/post-translational modifications/assays/storage, vendor names and pricing, marketing strategies, etc. Trade secrets provide an advantage unless acquired via theft or misappropriation. Although they are not officially registered, trade secrets are protected by law, such as the 2016 Defend Trade Secrets Act.
Trade secrets are protected by their status as a secret. If the information is leaked/stolen, the advantage is lost. A trade secret was likely obtained illegally if fraud, theft, bribery, or a breach of a nondisclosure agreement was involved.
Accidental theft or misappropriation by a receiver may still count when, for example, the person obtains information known to be a secret. An employer should guard against inadvertently receiving another's secrets from employees. A new employee may bring the secrets from past employers, often in an effort to "look good" to new management.
As a trade secret owner, you have a responsibility to protect this information. If you fail to keep it a secret or fail to take sufficient precautions, you could be out of luck. The owner cannot claim it's a secret if the owner does not treat it like a secret.
The threat of "inevitable disclosure" happens because the memory contains the information. Any memory is really just a marketable general skill or knowledge in the industry. The employer has an interest in protecting its secrets that were developed during R&D. The departing employee has an interest marketing and monetizing his knowledge, skill, and experiences.
There are lots of places to look for the theft. In our experience, thieves do the same activities. Our investigation into the theft may include: USB sticks; company and personal email; uploads to cloud storage; identifying access to network drives/middle of the night access to file servers; on-site key card analysis of sensitive areas; bulk copying at copy centers; and last minute trips to foreign countries. We often see a theft when a current employee is about to quit and join a new company. Or the employee is in the process of setting up his own company, here or elsewhere. We often read or hear about US thefts to benefit foreign companies.
Call Upadhye Cwik LLP at 312-327-3326 or view our website: ipfdalaw.com for more information about our innovative legal practice and how we help solve a client's problems.
Media Contact: Shashank Upadhye, (312)327-3326, [email protected]
SOURCE Upadhye Cwik LLP
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