Unlike patented inventions, confidential business information and know-how can be owned perpetually if kept secret. Trade secret protection is often a worthwhile alternative to patent protection, especially where a patent covering the technology is unavailable or would be difficult to enforce and the technology can easily be kept secret. Such confidential information and know how can be freely employed by competitors if not properly handled.
Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson assists its clients in identifying their important trade secrets and in establishing a comprehensive trade secret protection program which meets the requirements of trade secret law. Such a protection program usually includes the establishment of in-house procedures for handling trade secrets, preparation of appropriate employment agreements, including employment agreements with key employees and preparation of suitable confidentiality agreements. Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson also assists its clients in negotiating their sale of commercially marketable trade secrets under favorable terms.
As in every other type of intellectual property, protecting against trade secret misappropriation claims is every bit as important to the survival of a business. Toward that end, Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson analyzes the potential for adverse claims of trade secret misappropriation and advises its clients on appropriate courses of action, including for example, the development of parallel technologies using "clean room" techniques, the negotiation of a license to use competing technology, or the use of public domain technology to avoid trade secret claims.
Consider Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson for your trade secret related needs, including:
Case Study
Like so many other employers, this Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson client trusted his employees. He permitted one particular employee access to all of his company's information. He had his employee work on his most popular computer software packages. Just as the employee was getting to be knowledgeable and efficient, he quit to set up his own business. Within months, the ex-employee had a competitive product in the market and was selling the software at 30% below the ex-employer's prices.
Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson sued. An aggressive initial litigation strategy resulted in an early settlement. The ex-employee agreed not to use any of his ex-employer's source code or structure and he agreed to substantially change his software package. The ex-employee also agreed to stay out of his ex-employer's markets and to pay his ex-employer substantial royalties for projected sales over the next year. APS Software V. Global
Last Updated April 02, 2007