What Are The General Stages Of A Trade Secret Misappropriation Case?

Prior to the actual filing of a lawsuit, an employer will usually send a cease and desist letter to the former employee that details in a somewhat limited way the perceived violation. They will also ask the employee to stop using the information and return whatever trade secrets they might have in their possession or control. This is how at least half of these cases begin. If an employer is not satisfied, then they can file a lawsuit and seek injunctive relief. They’ll start by asking a judge for a temporary restraining order, which will expire after a couple of weeks. Once that expires, they will ask the judge for a temporary injunction, which can last the duration of the case.

Additional Information On Trade Secret Misappropriation Cases In Texas

With an increasing reliance on personal computers in the past couple of decades, forensic analyses of personal devices (laptops, iPads, mobile phones, etc.) have become much more common. The digital age has brought with it a lot more co-mingling of devices, whereby someone might use or travel with their mobile phone or personal laptop while checking emails and downloading documents. With injunctive relief, employers will often request that judges have the former employee hand over their laptops, iPads, and mobile phones. These devices can be forensically examined in order to determine whether or not they currently contain or have ever contained trade secrets. If they have, then that information can be tracked to determine whether they were sent to a personal email account or new employer, or uploaded to a cloud-based system. The technical aspect of these cases has become a lot more complicated and robust in the past two to five years, and there are no signs of it slowing any time soon.

During the discovery phase of litigation, the former employee will typically request that their former employer disclose the trade secret information that was disclosed to them while they were employed. Employers are often reluctant to release this information in discovery, so in addition to protective orders that might be in place by a judge, there are usually other protections in place. TUTSA also has a provision that deals with protections that a judge can implement if an employer thinks that disclosure of the trade secret information might lead to additional use or additional unlawful disclosures.

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