{"id":16558,"date":"2024-12-14T11:27:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T03:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/?p=16558"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T02:29:57","slug":"how-should-companies-address-trade-secret-protection-issues-with-departing-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/how-should-companies-address-trade-secret-protection-issues-with-departing-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"How Should Companies Address Trade Secret Protection Issues with Departing Employees?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was generated by NotebookLM<\/a> from Attorney Lai Wen-Chih’s book “From NDA to Trade Secret Management<\/a>” PDF file. This is an experiment presenting the knowledge contained in a book in different forms using generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book Purchase Links: Bookstore.com.tw<\/a>, eslite<\/a>, momo<\/a>, San Min<\/a>, Kingstone<\/a>, Iread Gray Bear<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, there was a TechBang report about “Google’s Former Engineer Completely Ignoring Non-Disclosure Agreement, Sued After Publicly Disclosing Pixel Chip Details and Internal Files Online<\/a>.” Even a large company like Google faces troubles from departing employee leaks. In fact, employees’ confidentiality obligations to enterprise trade secrets are not affected by their departure. As long as the information still meets the requirements for trade secrets under trade secret laws, even after employees leave, they still bear legal obligations not to infringe trade secrets. However, if departing employees actually leak secrets, the damage caused to the enterprise far exceeds what can be compensated through claims for trade secret infringement damages. The best approach is to address trade secret protection issues during the departure process. Let’s see how NotebookLM<\/a> suggests addressing this through the book “From NDA to Trade Secret Management<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Should Companies Address Trade Secret Protection Issues with Departing Employees?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Properly handling trade secret protection for departing employees is a key aspect of enterprise trade secret management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following measures can help companies reduce risks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. Before Departure:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Remind Departing Employees of Confidentiality Obligations<\/strong>: After employees submit resignation applications, immediately remind them of their confidentiality obligations to the company and inform them of the legal consequences of violating these obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Written notices, meeting records, and other documentation methods can record the reminder process for future evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Emphasize that confidentiality obligations do not terminate upon departure and continue until the trade secret no longer requires protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Confirm Departure Documents<\/strong>: Require departing employees to sign departure documents confirming they have returned or destroyed all company confidential information, including paper documents, electronic files, physical objects, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Departure documents can include confidentiality statements, equipment return checklists, confidential information inventories, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Conduct Exit Interviews<\/strong>: Have human resources or relevant supervisors conduct exit interviews with departing employees, reiterating their confidentiality obligations and understanding their post-departure plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 If departing employees plan to join competing companies, special attention should be paid to whether their work will involve company trade secrets, and appropriate preventive measures should be taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Exit interview records can serve as evidence for future disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Information Systems and Equipment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Immediately change departing employees’ access permissions to information systems to prevent continued access to company confidential information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Recover company-provided computers, mobile phones, USB drives, and other equipment, confirming that all company confidential information has been deleted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Consider creating mirror backups of computers used by departing employees for future investigation purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Confidentiality Clearance Checks<\/strong>: For employees who may have accessed or held significant company trade secrets, consider establishing confidentiality clearance checklists and having relevant supervisors review them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Confidentiality clearance checklists can include information about previous projects the departing employee participated in, clients contacted, information systems used, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Use confidentiality clearance checklists to analyze potential trade secret risks after departing employees leave and take appropriate preventive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. After Departure:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Continuous Monitoring<\/strong>: Continuously monitor departing employees’ activities, such as whether they join competing companies or publicly disclose information related to company trade secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Monitor departing employees’ activities through public information, industry news, social media, and other channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Gather Evidence<\/strong>: If departing employees’ actions suspected of infringing company trade secrets are discovered, immediately gather evidence, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Obtaining departing employees’ emails, instant messaging records, file access logs from their employment period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Obtaining departing employees’ work content and product information at competing companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Obtaining publicly disclosed articles and presentation materials by departing employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Take Legal Action<\/strong>: If there is sufficient evidence proving departing employees have infringed company trade secrets, consider taking legal action, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Petitioning the court for a preliminary injunction prohibiting departing employees from continuing to use or disclose company trade secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Filing civil lawsuits requesting departing employees compensate for losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Filing criminal charges pursuing departing employees’ criminal responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III. Other Matters for Attention:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf Non-Compete Clauses<\/strong>: If the company has signed non-compete agreements with employees after departure, attention should be paid to the legality and reasonableness of the clauses, and compensation should be paid according to the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Non-compete clauses’ terms, regions, and scope of occupational activities should be reasonably limited to avoid being overly broad and infringing on employees’ work rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Consider regularly contacting employees during non-compete periods, understanding their activities, and providing necessary assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cf Employee Relations<\/strong>: When addressing departing employees’ trade secret protection, attention should be paid to maintaining good employee relationships and avoiding overly aggressive measures that cause employee resentment and resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25cb Establish employee trust and support for company trade secret protection through transparent policies, sound communication mechanisms, and reasonable reward and punishment systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting trade secrets requires enterprise effort at every stage. Establishing a comprehensive trade secret management system and enhancing employee confidentiality awareness are necessary to effectively protect the company’s important intangible assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was generated by NotebookLM from Attorney Lai Wen-Chih’s book “From NDA to Trade Secret Management” PDF file. This is an experiment presenting the knowledge contained in a book in different forms using generative AI. Book Purchase Links: Bookstore.com.tw, eslite, momo, San Min, Kingstone, Iread Gray Bear Recently, there was a TechBang report about “Google’s Former Engineer Completely Ignoring Non-Disclosure Agreement, Sued After Publicly Disclosing Pixel Chip Details and Internal Files Online.” Even a large company like Google faces troubles from departing employee leaks. In fact, employees’ confidentiality obligations to enterprise trade secrets are not affected by their departure. As long as the information still meets the requirements for trade secrets under trade secret laws, even after employees leave, they still bear legal obligations not to infringe trade secrets. However, if departing employees actually leak secrets, the damage caused to the enterprise far exceeds what can be compensated through claims for trade secret infringement damages. The best approach is\u22ef<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,598],"tags":[],"practices":[588,501],"class_list":["post-16558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-tech-industry","practices-intellectual-property-and-trade-secrets","practices-labor-and-employment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16562,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16558\/revisions\/16562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16558"},{"taxonomy":"practices","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.is-law.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/practices?post=16558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}