Munger, Tolles & Olson Partner Carolyn Luedtke Discusses Trade Secret Protections in Wake of Proposed Ban on Non-Competes
Munger, Tolles & Olson partner Carolyn Hoecker Luedtke discussed trade secret protection strategies in the wake of a proposed ban on non-competes by the Federal Trade Commission in an article published by Inc. Magazine.
The article, titled “How Business Owners Can Protect Their Intellectual Property Without Noncompete Agreements,” offered lawyers’ recommended strategies for businesses to protect valuable intellectual property if the FTC’s proposed ban is enacted.
Ms. Luedtke noted the importance of having a strict exit or out-boarding processes to ensure sensitive trade secrets and confidential information is protected, including reminding departing employees of their confidentiality obligations and asking before they leave the company whether they may have inadvertently retained confidential company documents in places like cloud based storage, personal email accounts and smart phones. Having these conversations can help prevent exiting employees from taking and/or retaining company confidential information. Ms. Luedtke also noted that businesses can invest in data loss prevention software that can track the improper downloading of files. She explained these types of software are important because they can provide a red flag to trigger further investigation and efforts to claw back the downloaded materials.
Read the article. (Subscription may be required)
About Munger, Tolles & Olson’s Trade Secret and Employee Mobility Practice
Employees are telecommuting, working on tablet computers while traveling, file sharing through cloud-based storage providers, collaborating across offices and companies on wikis, and living life 24/7 on mobile devices. This has created complex challenges both for companies seeking to protect their trade secrets and for those seeking to avoid receiving or using other companies’ trade secrets.
Munger, Tolles & Olson has developed a strong emphasis in trade secret law and the related issues associated with employees who move from one competitor to the next. We represent companies and individuals across industries in a wide variety of trade secret and employee mobility cases. With a deep bench of attorneys experienced in these matters, Munger Tolles is at the forefront of protecting and defending the rights, intellectual property, and financial security of organizations embroiled in these complex legal situations.
Learn more about our Trade Secret and Employee Mobility Practice.