Access to key confidential information may need to be limited to specific personnel on a need-to-know basis.Įmployers should also maintain internal policies detailing the way in which information that is of value to the business is to be kept in confidence, and how employee-created IP is to be dealt with. In some circumstances it may be appropriate to revise the security credentials provided to staff – particularly when a business grows or embarks on a new project and obtains new and valuable confidential information. Maintain internal policies and practices which promote maintaining confidentialityīusinesses should regularly undertake an audit to ascertain which employees have access to what data.
#KEEP IT A SECRET FULL#
oblige them to assign ownership of any inventions they create in the course of their employment to their employer.Ĭlauses which oblige the employee to make full and prompt disclosures of all inventive ideas and to maintain records of research work undertaken should also be included. specifically state that the employee has a duty to invent andĢ. Where it is likely that an employee’s position involves inventing, their employment agreement should:ġ.
Where the confidential information consists of high value information that has a short life-span (ie under six months), employers should consider implementing a restraint of trade (so called “gardening leave”), which prevents ex-employees from working for a competitor whilst the information remains confidential.Ĭontractual obligations should also be imposed to prevent employees from taking any inventions they develop in their role and using them to benefit a competitor. These will need to be reasonable in scope, as they will not be enforceable if they prevent the ex-employee from being able to make a living.
It is standard for employment agreements to such obligations.Įmployment agreements should also contain non-compete clauses. Impose contractual obligationsĮmployees should be bound by contract to preserve their employer’s confidential information. Preventing disclosureĪs discussed below, there are a number of steps that should be taken to prevent departing and former employees from using your confidential information and becoming your biggest competitor. Regardless of the outcome, the US case serves as a reminder to all businesses, especially those involved in innovation, to take steps to prevent employees from heading out the door with confidential information, such as client lists or unregistered intellectual property (IP). Uber's self-driving car project was led by Anthony Levandowski, a former Googler who allegedly downloaded 14,000 files from Google before he left in January 2016.
#KEEP IT A SECRET TRIAL#
The self-driving car industry is awaiting the December trial in the US which will decide whether Uber misappropriated trade secrets from Google's self-driving car spin-off, Waymo.