Businesses generally protect trade secrets through the use of non-compete and non-disclosure contracts with vendors, customers, employees, and others who have access to the information. This places the theft of secrets into a framework of violating a written agreement in addition to the actual misappropriation and misuse of the information. The most common case of trade secret theft is when an employee resigns or is terminated. Civil litigation can result in a range of penalties including injunctions, a reallocation of profit earned from the secret by the party who benefitted from the theft, reimbursement of actual damages, and punitive damages. In some jurisdictions … (click here for complete article)
