Trade Secrets

Confidential information about your business is a trade secret belonging to your company. It comprises any secret information about your company, including its business methods, and its plans, which give it an advantage over other businesses. Confidential information can take many different forms, depending on the type of business you have. If you produce food products, it could be your recipes or the process by which certain things are manufactured, it could be more obvious information such as lists and details about your clients, or it could be details about how you want to grow your business, such as expansion plans or strategies for marketing. You do not have to register your trade secrets.

However, it is important to take steps to ensure that your trade secrets remain confidential. Your trade secrets can only be protected whilst they remain confidential, so this is incredibly important for any business.  If an employee misuses company information by leaking trade secrets to a competitor or to the world at large, action can be taken against them for damages. 

All companies should consider protecting their confidential information with appropriately drafted non disclosure agreements, in the hope that employees are deterred from sharing confidential information. The terms of such agreements, also known as NDAs, need to be considered carefully and taking professional legal advice from our solicitors is strongly recommended. If your company’s confidential information or trade secrets have been leaked or shared improperly, it is important to take swift legal action, which is where our expert lawyers can help.