One of the best ways companies can protect trade secrets is by ensuring that confidential information is disclosed on a need-to-know basis. Otherwise, they could lose out on any protection for intellectual property.
It’s hard to keep something secret if more than one person knows the sensitive information. But it’s not impossible. Many people want to know the ingredients that go into making Coca-Cola, the herbs and spices used to whip up batches of KFC chicken, or the special elements used to make the sauce for McDonald’s Big Mac.
Although some of the ingredients protected by these trade secrets might be obvious, the exact components are under wraps and protected.
If you run a business and need to safeguard sensitive information to derive value in the marketplace and gain a competitive advantage, there are five things you shouldn’t do.
Keep reading to learn more.
1. Lack of Confidentiality Agreements
If the goal is to safeguard confidential information from which your company derives economic value, then confidentiality pacts are a must. You must get staff members, partners, contractors, and all stakeholders with knowledge of the trade secrets to sign non-disclosure agreements.
It’s essential to know that you’ll lose any legal protection if you don’t do everything in your power to keep the confidential information private. One way to do your part and safeguard your intellectual property is to get all relevant parties to sign non-disclosure agreements.
2. Not Identifying Trade Secrets Properly
Another thing to avoid is failing to identify trade secrets properly. It’s hard to protect something if you don’t know if it qualifies as a trade secret or how to protect it. Your company must define and document what constitutes a trade secret within your business.
Put pen to paper and create a trade secrets inventory, including recipes, processes, formulas, strategies, and algorithms. It makes sense to speak to a trade secrets expert who can help you identify what qualifies as a trade secret and suggest the best strategy for protecting such.
3. Poor Worker Training on Trade Secret Protection
Another mistake to avoid if you want to protect your company’s trade secrets is failing to train employees on how they can contribute toward safeguarding trade secrets.
In addition to ensuring employees know what a trade secret is and the importance of not disclosing critical information, companies must conduct training to reduce the odds of workers leaking sensitive data because of a lack of awareness. Ongoing training on how to handle, store, and communicate key information is essential.
4. Overlooking Physical Security Risks
While you must be mindful about training employees and getting anyone with knowledge about trade secrets to sign non-disclosure agreements, that’s not nearly enough. You must also consider possible physical security risks. If information about trade secrets is stored at a facility, you should ensure these sensitive documents are properly secured. They shouldn’t be left unattended since unauthorized people could access it.
Ensure intellectual property documents are properly stored and restrict access to confidential sections of your office. Proper access control strategies and paper shredders to destroy sensitive documents will help protect trade secrets.
5. Sharing Too Much Information Publicly
Yet another mistake to avoid at all costs is sharing too much confidential information publicly. Remember that you can’t expect legal protection for trade secrets if you disclose too much information about them.
That’s one reason you should be mindful when preparing marketing materials, presentations, or other things. Avoid disclosing too much information that could make your trade secrets less secret.
When it comes to trade secrets, you must be mindful of who has access to the information. You
can’t protect — after all — what has already been disclosed. At that point, the intellectual property becomes fair game. So, consider these five tips to protect, rather than endanger, your trade secrets.
