A Texas federal court recently entered an injunction against a healthcare staffing company that works with federal agencies ordering it to (1) return information brought to it by a new hire from his previous employer and (2) not to use such information in any way to submit bids on any staffing contracts with federal agencies.
Since trade secrets are not registered with the government, like patents or trademarks, companies must take proactive measures to preserve them. Those who fail to take reasonable measures, risk finding out down the road (usually in court, when the try to recover stolen trade secrets from a rogue employee) that their information has lost its trade secrets status.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that: (1) a party must “prevail” before it can recover any attorney’s fees under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and (2) a plaintiff’s dismissal of its claims without prejudice does not confer the “prevailing party” status on defendants.
Every business should take at least the following steps to protect its trade secrets: (1) have employees sign non-competition / non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements and (2) turn on proper security features on all document management systems and databases, such as Google Share Drive, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, etc., and any databases used by the business.
Few employees realize that when they take their employers’ trade secrets with them prior to leaving their job they may be exposing themselves to criminal liability under the Economic Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to steal trade secrets when (1) the information relates to a product in interstate or foreign commerce (which is virtually any product now days) or (2) the intended beneficiary is a foreign power.
Texas’ recent amendments to its trade secrets statute made it the most comprehensive and modern statute in the nation. It is the only statute in the nation that addresses when a competitor can be excluded from the courtroom to prevent disclosure of trade secrets during the lawsuit.
