As a business owner, you understand how important it is to protect the assets that are critical for your company. The physical property owned by your business is valuable, but there may be other types of critical assets you also need to protect. This may include your intellectual property, which can include everything from your proprietary processes to your client lists. Your competitive advantage may depend on the protection of every type of trade secret owned by your business, and you will benefit from learning about how to accomplish this.
There are legal ways available to you that will allow you to protect your trade secrets. While you may assume that your employment processes and other types of screening methods are sufficient to protect these assets, that may not be the case. Your company could benefit from employing outside counsel in order to secure the appropriate amount of protection your business needs to shield your trade secrets from unauthorized access and potential use by your competition.
How can outside counsel help?
The protection of trade secrets requires certain legal steps, but as every situation is different, your company will benefit from having the assistance of a professional that can properly assess the situation and provide insight into the most appropriate ways forward. The protection of trade secrets often requires the following steps:
- Identify the specific assets your company owns that need proper protection.
- Label and secure documents that contain information regarding trade secrets.
- Carefully monitor where you store that information.
- Implement steps that will allow you to protect secrets from outside vendors.
- Limit the access that the public has to certain operations.
- Implement employee training and security measures with personnel.
Outside counsel with experience in trademark law and trade secret protection can ensure that you have the necessary protections in place for your business. One important way to do this is by creating employment contracts that include non-compete and non-disclosure clauses.
The best course of action for your business
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for protecting trade secrets. While there are specific legal and logistical measures that will help in this endeavor, the best approach depends on the details of your company, the types of trade secrets that need protection and other factors. It may be helpful to first seek an assessment of your case with outside counsel in order to understand what steps are necessary for your California company.