Below are 10 takeaways from the afternoon session of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Trade Secret Summit in Boston:
1. Public companies need to consider reporting requirements when trade secrets are stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Public companies need to consider whether potential theft of trade secrets is a material risk that must be disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. All companies need to conduct due diligence on their vendors, if vendors will be connected in a way that could allow access to the company’s IT systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Trade secrets policies should be included in Employee Handbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Employees need to be trained on the proper use and protection of company secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. It is not a trade secret unless you make a reasonable effort to keep it secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. The first known non-compete agreement was litigated in the 1600’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. When Michigan law changed in 1985 to allow greater enforcement of non-competes job mobility decreased significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. Greater enforcement of non-competes may result in “brain drain” to states with lesser enforcement or bans (e.g. California).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. When you are looking to sell your company, a prospective buyer is going to conduct due diligence around the precautions you have taken to protect your confidential information and trade secrets. <\/p>\n\n\n