According to the Center for Responsible Enterprise and Trade, or CREATe.org, the loss of trade secrets — ranging from proprietory formulas to confidential information to production methodologies — can have a devastating impact on a company. When there is misappropriation, in a growing number of jurisdictions a company must prove that it has taken “reasonable steps” to prevent trade secret theft or misuse.
CREATe.org recently published their white paper entitled the “Reasonable Steps to Protect Trade Secrets: Leading Practices in an Evolving Legal Landscape,” [1] which offers practical steps for companies concerned about this issue. This new white paper includes:
- International, regional and national laws featuring the “reasonable steps” requirement;
- The types of protections that companies have implemented — and examples of ways that trade secret protection programs have failed;
- Analysis of the types of “reasonable steps” that court cases have examined in determining whether to give trade secret protection to particular material;
- Check lists and examples of practical steps that companies can take to put protections in place in the eight categories that CREATe recommends for an effective trade secret protection program.
Visit CREATe.org [2] for more information and other useful materials on how to protect trade secrets.