Hot Topics in Trade Secrets: The In-House Counsel Perspective

Trade secrets are one of the company's most important intellectual property assets. Trade secrets is a vast term, encompassing business assets such as customer information, pricing, business and marketing plans, to technical trade secrets like formulas, manufacturing processes, and R&D information (to name just a few). Of course, as the name suggests, the key feature of a trade secret is that it is kept secret. This can always be a challenge for any business, but it has been specially tested during COVID-19. So many companies are experiencing new ways of working - including remote work, pivoting to meet market demands, launching new products and services, redeploying workers in different positions, and more. Add in the enforcement difficulties brought by widespread court closures and slowdowns, among other things, and the challenges mount. 

This interactive panel of in-house counsel, led by Nicole Galli, William E. Mosley,  Jennifer Miller, and Andrea Castetter will discuss the challenges (and possibly even opportunities) they face on a daily basis in protecting this key asset.

Learning Objectives:

1. Hear what keeps in house counsel up at night when it comes to trade secrets
2. Review current best practices in trade secret protection used by different types of companies and gain tips on how to implement such practices in your company
3. Identify the challenges faced by businesses protecting trade secrets internationally
4. Explore the increased challenges to trade secret protection posed by COVID-19
5. Appreciate the nuances involved in protecting this key asset