In our recent webinar, “Trade Secrets Audits: Strengthening Your Company’s IP Protection,” Seyfarth’s Intellectual Property Partner, Lauren Leipold, along with Trade Secret Attorneys Eddy Salcedo and James Yu, shared essential strategies for enhancing IP protection in today’s complex landscape. As corporate espionage and data breaches become increasingly prevalent, the session provided valuable insights on effective methods for safeguarding your company’s intellectual assets. Notably, recent developments surrounding the FTC’s Non-Compete Ban—currently stalled in litigation—highlight the pressing need for proactive measures to secure your business against emerging threats.
Key Insights from the Webinar
- Look for opportunities to secure rights in trademarks, copyrights, and patents by filing for federal registrations
- The same subject matter could be subject to patent or to trade secret protection, depending upon your business needs
- Consider whether additional contractual language is required to secure ownership rights in IP, even after registration
- Think critically about your IP portfolio as a whole when crafting employment agreements and corporate policy
- Determine what, if any, agreements you have in place, such as Confidentiality Agreements, Restrictive Covenants, Assignment of Inventions and Return of Materials, and ensure they are uniform and up to date.
- Ensure that your agreements, and their terms, comport to the applicable State Laws to ensure enforceability.
- Review your IP policies, practices and procedures to make sure adequate protections are in place to establish you engaged in reasonable efforts to safeguard your IP and trade secrets.
- Review and update, as needed, Employee Handbooks, Information Security Policies, BYOD and Social Media Policies so that employees are aware and do not “inadvertently” disclose sensitive materials.
- Implement Generative AI Policies and procedures to further protect against disclosure of sensitive information.
- Ensure IT, Legal and Management of the Company are aware of all potential risks of exfiltration with respect to electronic data, so they can implement policies and procedures to mitigate risk.
- Install extra levels of security where necessary, including two factor authorization, data encryption, and limiting use of third-party apps to protect particularly sensitive information, particularly with a hybrid and remote workforce, of the Company allows use of personal devices.
- Ensure employees understand what information the Company considers confidential, as trade secret identification is critical to successfully asserting a trade secret claim.
- Develop a culture of confidentiality by regularly updating Company policies, employment agreements, and provide regular training.
- Develop and maintain a protocol for on-boarding and off-boarding employees that ensures that confidentiality obligations are acknowledged and enforced.
- Develop a consistent return of information and device policy for both in-person and remote workforce.
To view the webinar recording, click here.