Misappropriation of Trade Secrets by Departing Employees or Other Agents

1:40 p.m. CDT

The America Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Spring Meeting took place April 2012 at the Hilton – Americas Houston George R. Brown Convention Center.

Houston Trial associate Teresa Lechner-Fish present "Misappropriation of Trade Secrets by Departing Employees or Other Agents," a paper she co-authored with Trial partner Chris Perque, on Apr. 2 at 1:40 p.m. The paper can be viewed here.

A trade secret may be any information that can be used to economic advantage. However, to be entitled to trade secret protection, such information must be maintained as a secret. Valuable proprietary information can be lost when employees or other agents depart to a competitor. Accordingly, protection of such proprietary information must begin at the onset of the employee's or agent's employment and continue throughout the employment. Protection and enforcement of trade secrets will be discussed for various jurisdictions with an emphasis on recent cases in California, Texas and New York.

Ms. Lechner-Fish's presentation was a part of a larger session titled "Litigation Perspectives for Chemical Engineers" which covered various types of litigation that chemical engineers may become involved with during their careers, whether from a scientific/academic perspective or from that of practicing engineers. Specialists in relevant litigation fields presented an overview of the key legal issues in each area, provided case study examples of litigation, and presented guidance and tips for engineers that find themselves involved in these cases. After the presentations in each area, the speakers provided an interactive, moderated panel that addressed questions from the moderator as well as audience participants.

Ms. Lechner-Fish was named Vice-Chairman of the Chemical Engineering and the Law Forum (ChE&L) that was sponsored during the session.