Collaborations gone south – trade secret lessons
In this contributed article for The Daily Journal, partners Adam Alper, Mike De Vries, Yimeng Dou and Ingrid Petersen discuss trade secret misappropriation cases and steps companies can take to protect their trade secrets and insulate themselves from improperly obtaining or using their counterparty's confidential information, particularly in the context of collaborations between companies that have gone south. Through the lens of several recent misappropriation cases, the authors identify some best practices for companies engaging in collaboration, including: memorializing a mutual understanding of the scope of the collaboration; identifying as best as feasible who owns what technology and the scope of each party's trade secrets; and considering specific provisions governing information sharing and the bases and manner of terminating a collaboration.
