Employers Must Take Steps to Protect Their Trade Secrets

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.

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, an employer must take steps to protect its valuable information. Doing so may prevent an employee from stealing confidential information; if not, it will likely put the employer in a better position should litigation be necessary.

First, an employer must identify the company’s trade secrets, stamp them “confidential,” and 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.

An employer should also utilize security measures, such as computer passwords and locked cabinets, to restrict access to confidential material to only those employees who must access such information to perform their jobs. 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 so that when an employee leaves the company, the employer can ensure that all confidential information has been returned.

To speak to a Dallas, Texas employment law attorney about implementing steps to protect trade secrets and other confidential information, contact the employment law specialists at Clouse Dunn LLP at info@clousedunn.com. 

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