Trade Secrets Counseling and Litigation

With the press of a button, sensitive information such as business plans, customer lists, manufacturing processes, formulas, computer source code and other materials can be shared with almost anyone, anywhere. These confidential trade secrets can just as easily walk out on an external drive in the pocket of a disgruntled former employee, or show up unannounced in the hands of a new hire.

Sophisticated businesses know that protecting and policing this information is critical, and hire skilled counsel before issues arise and either valuable trade secrets are compromised or a competitor’s proprietary information appears in their workplaces. The Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP trade secrets team helps clients consider how best to protect their valuable intellectual property—developing systems to identify and protect trade secrets, enforcing trade secrets against misappropriation and determining which technologies to maintain as secret and which to publicly disclose by seeking patent protection. We work closely with clients to ensure that valuable assets are identified and protected, and, if necessary, to pursue remedies available under the recently enacted Defend Trade Secrets Act and/or various state law Uniform Trade Practices Acts.

We work with personnel at every level of a client’s corporate structure, outlining policies, working with individual employees on agreements and collaborating with executives to identify corporate intellectual property assets. These clients benefit from not only our intellectual property experience but also our collaborative approach to protecting trade secrets as we work closely with the firm’s labor and employment lawyers, privacy team and transactional practices to develop holistic strategies. Our integrated teams advise clients on the pros and cons of protecting their information in various ways, such as through patents, copyright registrations, trade secrets or some combination thereof, and we address trade secret issues that arise in the workplace, such as employee use of the internet, social media and other new media. We work with our transactional lawyers to address trade secret issues relating to mergers, asset acquisitions and other transactions, and the firm’s privacy lawyers to address information security and privacy agreements. This full-service approach ensures that every aspect of trade secret protection is handled rapidly, consistently and skillfully.

Trade Secret Protection Programs

We counsel clients on the importance of recognizing potential trade secrets early, before they are inadvertently lost or compromised, and develop comprehensive protection programs, often as components of broader intellectual property strategies. We handle due diligence investigations, develop employee training programs and assess protection plans for intellectual property assets.  These programs are tailored to the needs of individual clients and include follow-up services to ensure they are implemented and maintained effectively.

Trade Secret Agreements

Our lawyers are skilled in structuring, drafting and negotiating comprehensive and enforceable agreements to protect trade secrets and confidential information, including confidentiality agreements for key employees and independent contractors, and confidentiality provisions in broader employee and contractor agreements. We also develop nondisclosure agreements for a range of transactions in which trade secrets may be disclosed or developed, including NDAs with actual and prospective customers, vendors, suppliers, licensors, licensees and joint venturers.

Trade Secret Investigation, Enforcement and Litigation

We have helped numerous clients in investigating, preventing, containing and obtaining redress for the threatened or actual misappropriation of their trade secrets and confidential information. Where feasible, we protect our clients’ trade secrets through demand letters and negotiation. But we also know that the difference between containing a breach and having your trade secrets disclosed can be measured in minutes.

 Our lawyers are skilled litigators, ready to move on a moment’s notice, and have achieved successful results for our clients in a wide range of venues.