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Innovators, Startups and Challenger Brands: A Utah Intellectual Property Attorney Can Help You Protect Your Trade Secrets

Under Utah law, a trade secret is any information that has independent economic value to your business by not being readily ascertainable by others. For many challenger brands, processes, methods, programs and apps are their competitive edge—and the reason why they can do business. Protecting trade secrets against misappropriation presents a unique challenge to businesses, different from copyrights, trademarks and patents which are all public record.

Depending on the type of business you have, there can be numerous types of information that may be deemed to be trade secrets:

  • Formulas
  • Recipes
  • Procedures
  • Patterns
  • Computer codes
  • Algorithms
  • Client lists
  • Customer lists
  • Encrypted information
  • Methods of manufacture
  • Other technology

Today more than ever, having a solid understanding of your trade secrets is a crucial part of building an innovative venture on a solid foundation. A Utah intellectual property attorney can work to develop an IP and trade secret protection strategy that aligns with your business goals. 

Protecting Your Trade Secrets

How do you protect a trade secret without divulging pertinent, crucial information? There is no simple answer or silver bullet. But, after you identify your trade secrets, be sure to consider and adopt some or all of the following practices:

  • Control employee access to trade secrets.
  • Get signed non-disclosure agreements from anyone who has access.
  • Label all documents and files that contain proprietary information “confidential”.
  • Monitor where information is stored.
  • Password protect and secure all computers.
  • Be careful about sharing information with outside contractors or vendors.
  • Provide cyber or physical security.

Proactive action is the key to success. If you fail to protect your trade secrets, not only are they more likely to be stolen, but you may not have any recourse once they are. Trade secrets are protected from misappropriation under several federal and state laws. In order to receive protections under most trade secret laws, you must make a reasonable effort to protect the trade secrets.

Protecting your business from theft, espionage or breach of contract is not a one-time effort. You need to expand, adjust and modify your security as your company grows. Just like a single trademark registration may not cover expanding product lines, no single security measure can protect all trade secrets within a growing business.

Contact a Logan Utah
Trade Secret Attorney

Many of our clients aren’t exactly sure how to identify and protect their trade secrets. A Logan Utah intellectual property attorney will enlist a variety of IP services and strategies to protect your business. We take the time to offer tailored advice. Each client receives personal, partner-level attention.

Strategy Consultation

Meet with an attorney, ask, learn, and plan
$350

Project CIP is Logan Utah’s intellectual property law firm. Contact our office today.