Trade secret law disputes most often arise from the theft of a company’s confidential information, like formulas, programs, techniques, and processes. Theft of a trade secret is legally referred to as trade secret misappropriation. When your company’s valued assets include such information, both state and federal law offer safeguards and causes of action to remedy any economic harm that is caused by misappropriation.
Injunctive relief is a rare form of recovery, but the law recognizes that trade secret misappropriation claims are special. Some companies are entirely built off of a proprietary process or recipe. In these cases no amount of money award would remedy the situation. When this occurs, the court will likely order injunctive relief to prohibit the use of trade secrets. An example would be when a former employee uses a company recipe or steals customer names from the company database.