Trade Secrets Litigation Attorneys in The Woodlands

Before we talk about trade secrets, we need to talk about the Hopkins Centrich litigation philosophy:

When you have a serious legal issue that seems destined for a lawsuit, there is one thing you need to hear from your attorneys: “We will tell you the truth even if it’s unpleasant.”

That’s hard for a lot of lawyers to do because the last thing a client wants to hear is, “You don’t have a case,” “It’s time to pull the plug and walk away,” or “It’s not worth the expense just to prove you’re right.”

You need to know because you need to do whatever is best for your business. And to do that you need straight facts.

Hopkins Centrich PLLC gives you the facts . . . along with cutting edge, high quality, creative legal solutions to businesses in The Woodlands and beyond.

Trade Secrets in Closely Held Companies

Here are some examples of trade secrets that a business may seek to protect:

• Formulas and recipes - Such as a food, beverage, medicine, chemical, or cosmetics formula. Product specifications fall into this category too.
• Technical knowledge - Manufacturing processes, engineering drawings, source code, semiconductor chip designs, and other technically complex proprietary information.
• Customer lists and data - Especially for businesses with consumer sales, customer contact info, preferences, and buying history can be valuable.
• Pricing information - Wholesale pricing, discounting, and negotiated contract pricing terms.
• Business strategies - Internal strategic plans around new products, marketing, acquisitions, expansions, etc.
• Supplier info - Details on key suppliers, pricing, and non-public contract terms.
• Creative works - New designs, writings, artwork, and publications before public release.
• Financial data - Projections, profit margins, R&D budgets, and other non-public financial details.
• Market research - Competitive intelligence, focus group testing results, and proprietary market analyses.

Please note: to qualify as a trade secret, the information must be treated as confidential and provide economic value from its secrecy. Robust policies and security procedures should protect trade secrets, the absence of such protections may mean the loss of consideration of being a trade secret.

Trade Secret Litigation

Trade secret litigation can arise when a company alleges misappropriation or theft of confidential proprietary information. Key aspects of trade secret lawsuits include:

• Identifying the trade secrets - The plaintiff must specify the particular trade secrets at issue such as formulas, technical data, customer lists, business strategies, etc. These are typically described in general terms.
• Demonstrating value and secrecy - The plaintiff must establish the economic value of the trade secrets to the company and the efforts made to keep them confidential.
• Employee disputes - Lawsuits often arise when ex-employees are accused of misappropriating trade secrets they acquired on the job.
• Breach of contract claims - If the secrets were shared under NDA, claims may include breach of the confidentiality agreement.
• Former business partners - Companies sometimes sue former business partners who had access to secrets for misuse of proprietary information.
• Improper acquisition tactics - The plaintiff must show the defendant improperly acquired the trade secrets rather than through public domain, independent creation, or reverse engineering.
• Use or disclosure - There must be reasonable evidence that the defendant actually used the trade secrets without authorization.
• Harm - The plaintiff should demonstrate actual harm from loss of competitive advantage due to the trade secret theft.

Remedies sought often include injunctive relief, royalty payments, and monetary damages.