Trade Secrets

Employer customer lists: “Whatever you say, dude.”

June 25, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

You’re looking to hire a new salesperson. Scott Salesperson comes in to interview. He currently works for your top competitor.

“Scott, do you have a non-competition agreement?”

“No.”

“Scott, do you have a confidentiality agreement?”

“No. In fact, I have a list of my own customers that I could sell to if you hire me.”

Sounds good, right. But, before hiring Scott, do you have any obligation to independently verify the facts that Scott has represented?

New Jersey employers will definitely want to click through because, last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court answered…

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Do your confidentiality agreements pass muster with the NLRB?

April 12, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last week, Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employer Law Blog was on point with this good post discussing a recent National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge decision. The case involved what the NLRB General Counsel believed was an overly-broad social media policy in two regards:

It banned employees from using social media to comment on work-related legal matters; and

It required company-permission be given before employees post images/video online.

Make sure to read Jon’s post for the full-scoop. I promise not to give away the ending (until later in this post, when I give away the ending). But, after the jump, I’m going to examine another aspect of the case; namely, a confidentiality provision that the ALJ deemed overly broad. I’ll also add a few ideas for you to keep your confidentiality provisions compliant with the National Labor Relations Act.

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NJ officially adopts the Trade Secrets Act

January 20, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

As reported here in September, the State of New Jersey was recommending passage of the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act.

Well, welcome to the party, pal. (Or is it Powell?). Last week, NJ became the 47th state to adopt a version of the uniform trade secrets act as Governor Christie signed the NJTSA into law. The new law provides for both legal relief (damages for actual loss an unjust enrichment, punitive damages, attorney’s fees) in the event of an actual misappropriation of trade secrets, and injunctive relief should there be an actual or threatened misappropriation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHm9MG9xw1o

Who owns the LinkedIn account you maintain for an employee?

January 5, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

powered by Fotopedia

Yesterday, we looked at a recent federal-court decision to determine whether LinkedIn connections are considered trade secrets. Today, after the jump, we look at whether your business has any protectible interest in a LinkedIn account that you create and maintain for your employees.

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Are employees’ LinkedIn contacts considered your trade secrets?

January 4, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Over the past several weeks, you probably read about this case involving a company suing one of its former employees whom it alleges misappropriated a Twitter account and, along with it, 17,000 Twitter followers that the company believes it owns. A video about the case follows below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hV2lCnG5VA

A fight over LinkedIn connections.

Your [trade] secrets are safe with NJ…almost.

September 22, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Raise your hand if your state has adopted a Uniform Trade Secrets Act — a law that affords companies an additional layer of protection by providing for civil remedies in cases of trade-secret theft by employees and others.

Not so fast, New Jersey.

Well, all that may be about to change. Details after the jump…

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If Lady Gaga tweets your trade secret, is it still a trade secret?

August 29, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

In a matter of minutes, or even seconds, a single tweet may reach thousands or, possibly, millions of people. Now, just imagine if that tweet contained proprietary information. (You know, like if Lady Gaga tweeted the code to Microsoft Windows 7 to her millions of followers). Ummm…work with me here…

But, even in the days before Twitter, publishing content on a blog or a message board meant putting information out in the public domain for anyone — including a competitor — to view. What if that information was supposed to be confidential? Does a trade secret lose its legal trade-secret status if it is published on the internet? Find out the answer after the jump…

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Is a non-compete agreement signed months after work begins enforceable?

June 1, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

I was reading a blog post from Jennifer L. Gokenbach at the Colorado Employer’s Law Blog, discussing how, as of yesterday, Colorado deems continuation of at-will employment to be sufficient consideration to support a non-competition agreement. In non-lawyer speak, that means that if an employee signs an agreement not-to-compete in Colorado after the employee starts working, on the condition that if the employee does not sign the agreement then the employee will be fired, the employer may later enforce that agreement.

That’s now the law in Colorado. Is that also the law in PA, NJ, and DE?

Delaware: Yes. Research & Trading Corp. v. Powell, 468 A.2d 1301, 1305 (Del.Ch.1983).

New Jersey: Yes. Hogan v. Bergen Brunswiq Corporation, 153 N.J.Super. 37, 378 A.2d 1164 (App.Div. 1977).

Pennsylvania: No. An agreement not to compete with a former employer must be supported by new consideration; i.e., a change in the conditions of employment (e.g., a raise, promotion, or other financial benefit). Maintenance Specialties, Inc. v. Gottus, 455 Pa. 327, 314 A.2d 279, 280 (Pa. 1974).

Misclassifying an employee may void a non-compete agreement

April 19, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

In an unpublished opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Pennsylvania company’s attempt to enjoin a former employee, who had entered into several restrictive covenants with the company, to compete directly against the company and solicit its customers.

What did this employer do wrong and how can you learn from its mistakes?

After the jump…

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4 ways employers can protect themselves when employees leave

January 19, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

This story that I wrote with my Dilworth Paxson LLP colleague, David Laigaie, the Chair of Dilworth’s Corporate Investigation/White Collar Group, recently appeared in The Legal Intelligencer. If you operate a business in Pennsylvania and you have trade secrets, employees with non-solicitation agreements, or non-competition agreements, then take a few minutes and read this article. You’ll be glad you did.