Your Trade Secrets and Wiki-Leaks 

The US Government Cannot Stop Disclosure of its Secrets

Your company possesses many Trade Secrets (confidential information).  Trade Secrets are non-public information that gives you a competitive advantage over your rivals.  Examples include customer lists, employees names, marketing plans, future prices, vendor prices, product specifications and more.

Wiki-Leaks is publishing on the Internet thousands and thousands of pages of U.S. government secret information.  The government is investigating, but a likely candidate is an Army private.

The lesson here is that disgruntled employees are the most likely source of unauthorized disclosure of valuable company Trade Secrets.  And, you should take steps to 1. protect against the disclosure of Trade Secrets and 2. ensure you do not lose rights to your Trade Secrets. 

Under Illinois law, if you do not take reasonable measures to protect your Trade Secrets you may not be able to stop a competitor from using your Trade Secrets.  Reasonable steps including having employees sign Trade Secrets agreements, restricting disclosure of Trade Secrets only to employees and outside parties who have a need to know the information.  If a Trade Secret is disclosed to an outside party, the outside party must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Get started now to identify your Trade Secrets and properly protect against losing your rights in your valuable Trade Secrets.

Charlie is an accomplished senior business legal adviser, having represented boards and executives at public and private businesses in diverse industries nationally and internationally for 24 years. He has held senior Law Department roles in major companies, including as General Counsel. While specializing in IP (patent management, trademarks and trade secrets), he counsels company boards and executives in the U.S. and abroad in a wide range of business issues. Charlie has served in leadership roles in the Chicago Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel. He is active in civic affairs. Charlie’s e-mail address is charlie@corplaw.com.

About Charles Brown

CorpLaw Associates LLC is a law firm of experienced business attorneys who deeply understand their clients’ businesses and who use best practices to achieve their clients’ business goals. The firm provides full support for businesses. For clients who need on-site legal help, CorpLaw is one of only a few firms that specialize in this model. Their mailing address is CorpLaw Associates LLC, 400 Central Avenue, Suite 150, Northfield, Illinois 60093. They can be contacted at 847.784.1300or at firm@corplaw.com. Their web address is www.corplaw.com.