Reducing the Chances of a Trade Secrets Lawsuit: How to Advise Your Business Clients

By Mark Punzalan

Mark Punzalan is an Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation attorney who advises emerging and established companies in sensitive legal areas such as trade secret misappropriation, trademark disputes, unfair business practices, and data privacy. Mr. Punzalan is the Principal of Punzalan Law, P.C., a Silicon Valley law firm whose practice areas include Intellectual Property, Securities Law, and Whistleblower Law.

Imagine you are a business attorney representing a company that seeks your legal advice in the following scenarios.

In both scenarios, the attorney needs an understanding of trade secrets laws to advise the business client appropriately. While trade secrets issues often surround technology-related companies, businesses in any industry can get embroiled in a trade secret dispute. Indeed, nearly every business has some valuable information that it wishes to keep secret from the public—such as client lists or marketing plans—and these pieces of information may be subject to trade secret protection.