September 16, 2009 |

Trade Secrets

An employee of our client, who was involved in building their sales network, started an independent business which threatened to interfere with our client’s business. California is a “right to work” state, so non-competition agreements are generally unenforceable. And California courts have rejected the “inevitable disclosure” doctrine. However, based on evidence of actual use of trade secret information (customer lists) we sought an obtained a Temporary Restraining Order requiring the former employee not only to cease contact with customers, but also requiring the immediate turnover of a computer, a hard drive and a phone which allegedly contained trade secret information.