{"id":3388,"date":"2018-12-14T19:12:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T19:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmnew\/?post_type=blog&p=3388"},"modified":"2021-08-17T10:33:09","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T14:33:09","slug":"are-your-trade-secrets-really-safe-4-steps-to-safeguard-your-competitive-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/are-your-trade-secrets-really-safe-4-steps-to-safeguard-your-competitive-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Trade Secrets Really Safe? 4 Steps To Safeguard Your Competitive Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A trade secret is a piece of information which is confidential, can be legally protected, and gives your company a competitive edge.\u00a0 Lots of the most famous examples involve recipes: the formula for Coca Cola, McDonald\u2019s Big Mac \u201csecret sauce\u201d, or that Mrs. Field\u2019s chocolate chip cookie recipe that caused such a legal stir in the 90s.\u00a0 But you don\u2019t need to be a food purveyor or a mega-corporation to have a unique approach that sets you apart from your competition\u2014and if you can legally keep it a secret, you should.<\/p>\n

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Here are four steps you can take to keep trade secrets safe:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make a list:<\/strong> The first step in protecting trade secrets is knowing that you have them.\u00a0 Look across your business and think about any types of information you possess that are both confidential and critical to your success.\u00a0 Trade secrets could be product designs, customer lists, marketing plans, sales forecasts, or processes.\u00a0 For software developers, proprietary code obviously needs protection and for restaurants and food stores, it\u2019s the secret recipe.\u00a0 Conduct a \u201ctrademark audit\u201d to identify the information you have a legal right to keep private and wouldn\u2019t want your competitors to find out.<\/li>\n
  2. Stake your claim: <\/strong>Once you know what your trade secrets are, it\u2019s essential to start treating them like secrets.\u00a0 Stamp or watermark \u201cconfidential\u201d on sensitive documents.\u00a0 Get confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements in place with employees and vendors.\u00a0\u00a0 These will put the people who learn your secrets on notice not to usurp them and lay the basis for a legal claim, if necessary.<\/li>\n
  3. Lock it up:\u00a0 <\/strong>Take whatever steps are reasonably available to you to secure your trade secrets from access.\u00a0 Digital files and systems should be encrypted and password protected. Physical files should be kept locked.\u00a0 Establish rules around access to sensitive files.\u00a0 If possible, use a badge system to control access to your facility and posted signs to designate areas where access is controlled.<\/li>\n
  4. Train your troops:\u00a0 <\/strong>Many disclosures of trade secrets are inadvertent slips by an employee who simply did not know better.\u00a0 That may make it easier to forgive, but the negative impacts on your business are still there.\u00a0 Prevent this with good training and education for your employees on what your company considers confidential and what employees\u2019 obligations are.\u00a0 Back the training up with strong written policies.\u00a0 And when an employee leaves, take steps to shut down their access to your files and systems right away to ensure that your secrets don\u2019t leave with them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Whether your trade secret is a treasured family recipe, a brilliant string of code, or a closely guarded customer list, it won\u2019t be a secret for long unless you are careful.\u00a0 Taking the steps above is a great first step toward a solid trade secret strategy.\u00a0 For even further assurances of security, consider retaining counsel for a professional security audit.\u00a0 Business attorneys like us can be great partners in protecting your trade secrets and your business.<\/p>\n

    If you are interested in learning how we can assist you, your family, and your business dreams with comprehensive business planning, please contact Legacy Law Firm, P.C. at (605) 275-5665 to schedule a free consultation today.<\/p>\n

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     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A trade secret is a piece of information which is confidential, can be legally protected, and gives your company a competitive edge.\u00a0 Lots of the most famous examples involve recipes: the formula for Coca Cola, McDonald\u2019s Big Mac \u201csecret sauce\u201d, or that Mrs. Field\u2019s chocolate chip cookie recipe that caused such a legal stir in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1156],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10235,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions\/10235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.new.lawofficeresponse.com\/legacylawfirmbuild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}