Many people start businesses up yearly throughout the U.S. Perhaps more so with the dawn of entrepreneurial spirited e-commerce solutions, like Shopify and Wix. As your business grows, your employee roster grows, and you begin to realize what works and what doesn’t. The strategies and tactics you practice must be guarded so that you can retain your specific niche in the market, but how do you protect your secrets to your success?
Protecting your company’s inner-working tactics can be especially troubling if your employees are virtual or contract and do not share an office and meeting space with you. The threat behind this feeling of anonymity is greatly reduced by enforcing certain contracts such as confidentiality and non-compete agreements.
A confidentiality or nondisclosure agreement can go a long way to protect against or delineate any potential trade secret information sharing your present or past employee can take to another company. However, certain protections of trade secrets exist even if an employee was never asked to sign any agreements, but knowingly provided information or accessed information that was confidential.
If you feel that another company has obtained your intellectual property or is utilizing trade secrets shared by a current or past employee, you may need a business and litigation attorney in Ohio to aid in your dispute. Violations of confidentiality expectations and utilization of unlawfully obtained trade secrets are real threats that can maim an otherwise healthy business that is in it for the long haul. Consulting a Cleveland business attorney as you bring on employees and grow your business is a solid preventive measure you may be wise to utilize as well.
