Re: Protecting Research at Common Law?

> If I have some employees who are working in Computer R&D and leave
> my employ to work for an x-senior Manager-Director of my Company.
>
> Also...
>
> i) Assume I have no written employment contract with any of them.
>
> ii) They decided to leave and join the 'ex-senior' in his similar
> venture months prior to leaving.
>
> iii) before they left, they tried to glean as much info about
> research project as possible but did not physically remove or copy
> any information.
>
> How would the common-law handle this scenario?
>
> Brian Illion
> <brian[_at_]Glade.YorkU.CA>

The situation would be covered by the law of trade secrets. Although there are considerable details necessary for a complete or accurate answer, the general result would be that if information taken from the former employer qualified as a trade secret and was not part of the normal skill and training of the employee, it would be protected. Absent a patent or coyright, trade secret protection, amplified by contract law, is the only method
of protecting research.

Harvey Perlman
University of Nebraska College of Law
<hperlman[_at_]unlinfo.unl.edu> Received on Wed Mar 23 1994 - 02:42:49 GMT