No employer wants to litigate a case involving the theft of its trade secrets, but employees can and do walk away from companies with confidential information. To avoid these situations, a Texas trade secret attorney will advise an employer to implement proper trade secret protection initiatives. Doing so may prevent an employee from stealing confidential information; if not, it will likely put the employer in a better position should trade secret litigation be necessary.
Trade Secret Protection Checklist
First, an employer must identify the company’s trade secrets and stamp them “confidential”. The employer must ensure that employees understand they are to keep trade secrets confidential. An employer should be careful not to “over-identify” documents and items as trade secrets. Indiscriminately marking documents as confidential could weaken the employer’s argument for items and documents that truly are trade secrets.
It’s also important to utilize security measures, such as computer passwords and locked cabinets, to restrict access to confidential material. Only those who need such information to perform their jobs should have access. An employer may need to take measures to prevent an employee from downloading confidential information onto an external drive or from emailing the information to an outside email account. Finally, an employer should create a termination check-list. This ensures that when an employee leaves the company, the employer can ensure that all confidential information has been returned.
To speak to a trade secret lawyer about implementing trade secret protection initiatives or anything else involving confidential information, contact the Dallas employment and business lawyers of Rogge Dunn Group PC at info@RoggeDunnGroup.com