According to the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, a trade secret is any confidential plan, formula, pattern, program device, technique, code, or collection of information that, once released, could potentially benefit a business. Did you know that a trade secret isn’t even anything that has to be written down? It can be in someone’s memory and can still be a target of employee theft. Atlanta based companies are just as open to this as any other in the country.
Employee theft has many different shapes and forms. Basically when someone works for a company, let’s say in the research and development field, anything designed or developed under that company’s employ becomes property of said company. If that particular item is never released to the public, then the trade secret obligations are still present. It would be considered employee theft for that information to be used by that employee either after employment ends or if it’s released without the employer’s consent.
A confidentiality agreement may be the best way to protect a company from trade secret employee theft. An agreement of this nature is a legally binding contract, which prohibits involved parties (such as company employees) from disclosing trade secret information to the public, third parties, or worse—the competition.
Many employers have gone to great lengths to protect their trade secrets. An interesting study showed that up to 58% of all employees steal something from a business. Trade secret theft however affects business the most when there are 100 employees or less. Some small businesses can be destroyed by employee theft of trade secrets.
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