TRADE SECRETS
THEFT
Kohn Swift represents businesses injured by trade secrets theft. Trade secrets are confidential, sensitive, and/or proprietary information that give a business a competitive advantage by being known only to the business’s insiders. Theft or misappropriation of a business’s trade secrets is actionable under state and federal law.
The firm has represented a range of clients in trade secrets theft matters, from a fluid-hydraulics engineering firm whose confidential engineering drawings for a rocket-launch mechanism were misappropriated by a former employee and rival firm, to the owner of engineering drawings for high-end model trains.
Trade secrets can be among a business’s most valuable assets. They may include, among other things:
- proprietary software
- customer lists
- designs
- ingredients
- formulae
- methods
- techniques
- processes
- devices
- patterns
THEFT OF TRADE SECRETS LITIGATION
Courts in federal and state theft of trade secrets cases may award plaintiffs:
- actual damages for financial losses sustained as a result of the theft, and
- punitive damages for willful or malicious trade secret theft.
A court may also:
- enjoin a defendant from further use or revelation (publication) of a misappropriated trade secret, or
- order the defendant to pay royalties to the plaintiff if the defendant profits from the secret’s continued use.
Theft of a business’s trade secrets can significantly reduce or eliminate its ability to compete. Quick action to stop further use or publication of stolen secrets can limit losses and preserve a business’s viability. If you are a victim of trade secrets theft, contact us for an evaluation of your intellectual property case without charge.
Contact a Kohn Swift Attorney
