Trade Secret Litigation Attorneys in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Trade secrets involve techniques, patterns, and methods used in a company's day-to-day operations, which must be kept confidential. These trade secrets are commercially valuable and give the company an economic edge over its competitors. Disputes often occur when a trade secret is acquired through improper means or used without the owner's consent.

If you're involved in a trade secret legal battle or if you're considering filing a trade secret lawsuit, retaining a skilled Tennessee commercial litigation attorney is crucial for detailed guidance. At McCarter | East PLLC, we are committed to offering experienced legal guidance, advocacy, and reliable representation to clients in their trade secret litigation.

As your legal counsel, we can review every detail of your unique circumstances, determine whether you have a case, and enlighten you about your available legal options. Using their extensive knowledge, our trusted legal team can represent you vigorously in your trade secret misappropriation claim and help you seek an injunction and deserved compensation.

McCarter | East PLLC proudly represents clients throughout Murfreesboro and Berry Hill, Tennessee.

What Qualifies as a Trade Secret?

A trade secret can be described as confidential business information which gives a company or business an economic edge over its competitors. Trade secrets may include techniques, programs, ingredients, methods, devices, compilations, formulas, inventions, patterns, processes, and software algorithms used for business operations but only known to a limited group of people.

Elements of a Trade Secret

For a piece of information to be considered a trade secret, it must:

• Have a commercial value to the company because it is secret or confidential.

• Be known only to a limited group of people.

• Kept confidential by the rightful holder by taking reasonable steps to protect its secrecy.

Examples of Trade Secrets

Here are some common examples of trade secrets:

• New York Times Bestseller list

• The Google search algorithm

• Listerine

• The recipe for Coca-Cola

• Lena Blackburn's Baseball Rubbing Mud

• The secret ingredients for Kentucky Fried Chicken

• McDonald's Special Sauce (Big Mac Sauce)

• WD-40

An experienced business litigation attorney can enlighten you about some reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality of your trade secrets.

"Reasonable Measures" to Protect Secrecy

As mentioned earlier, it is important that the rightful owner takes reasonable measures to keep the trade secret as confidential as possible. This may be achieved using any of the following means:

• Locking the trade secret in file cabinets

• Protecting the trade secret using a password

• Marking the trade secret as "confidential."

• Restricted access to trade secret information.

• Encrypting the trade secret information.

• Signing a non-disclosure agreement before accessing the trade secret.

A knowledgeable attorney can enlighten you about the type of protections that trade secrets offer and craft an effective strategy to protect your trade secrets.

What Protections Do Trade Secrets Have?

Trade secrets are intellectual property (IP) rights that may be used to protect the following kinds of information:

• Ideas that give a business a competitive edge.

• Information discovered during development and research.

• Competitors' knowledge that the company is developing a product or service.

• Valuable business information, including marketing plans, techniques, and customer data.

• Any other information that is valuable to the company and not generally known to everyone.

In the event that another business or competitor uses or obtains your trade secret through improper means, you may have a trade secret misappropriation claim against such business.

Trade Secret Misappropriation

According to Tennessee law, trade secret misappropriation can be described as the acquisition of another person's trade secret by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means – such as theft, misrepresentation, bribery, or breach of a duty to maintain secrecy.

Furthermore, trade secret misappropriation also involves the disclosure or use of another person's trade secret without implied or express consent by a person who acquired the trade secret through improper means or knew that the trade secret was obtained through improper means.

Elements Needed To Prove a Claim

To establish a trade secret misappropriation claim, the plaintiff must show that:

• The plaintiff has some valuable business information kept secret

• The information isn't generally known.

• The defendant has used that secret.

• The plaintiff suffered damages due to the defendant's misappropriation.

Under Tennessee law, an action to seek damage for trade secret misappropriation must be commenced within three (3) years after the misappropriation is discovered. An experienced attorney can fight diligently to protect your rights, help establish liability, and attempt to recover the maximum possible damages.

Work With Experienced
Trade Secret Lawsuits Attorneys

Navigating intellectual property matters involving trade secrets often involve a lot of complexities. Whether you are trying to file or defend yourself against a trade secret lawsuit, getting knowledgeable legal guidance and representation is paramount. An experienced commercial litigation attorney can evaluate your possible options and determine the best way to proceed with your case.

At McCarter | East PLLC, our attorneys have the resources and expertise to guide and represent business owners in complex intellectual property matters involving trade secret lawsuits or misappropriation. Having our team on your side can increase your prospects of achieving the most favorable outcome in your trade secret lawsuit.