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Trade Secret Attorneys Helping Protect Your Livelihood

The simple truth is a trade secret can easily be the most valuable intellectual property a business has. It could be responsible for a competitive edge in the marketplace; it could result in key contributions from personnel, and it could also lead to cutting-edge innovations.

AtAU LLC, our experienced and talented attorneys are committed to helping clients maintain and protect their trade secret rights. We serve a variety of industries, including Internet/e-commerce businesses, financial services, software, medical devices, “brick and mortar” businesses, cosmetics, construction, food products, and much, much more.

WithAU LLC on your side, you can count on receiving expert assistance in handling and resolving trade secret issues and expert advice and guidance that will help prevent trade secret issues from occurring.

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE TRADE SECRETS?

Trade Secrets are intellectual property assets the values of which are derived from their awareness being exclusive to their owners (i.e., they are secret).

Unlike patent, copyright, and trademark assets, trade secrets are not inherently protected at the federal level (absent criminal provisions in 18 U.S.C. ss 1831, 1832, and supplementary remedies under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA)) and are instead protected, usually, by various adoptions of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. In Illinois, for example, trade secrets are protectable under the Illinois Trade Secrets Act (“ITSA”), 765 ILCS § 1065/ et seq.

Trade secret protection may apply to that which also may be patentable and includes non-technical data, formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, drawings, processes, financial data, or lists of actual or potential customers or suppliers which are valuable as a result of their being secret and are subject to reasonable security measures.

Trade secrets are not infringed; rather, they are “misappropriated,” which generally involves the improper acquisition and disclosure of trade secret information.

MORE OF WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO UNDERSTAND TRADE SECRETS

Trade secrets do not have a set lifespan (unlike patents) and pragmatically last so long as the owner is successful in keeping them secret. While customer lists are expressly included in the definition of what may be protectable as a trade secret, mere collections of the publicly available information may not be protectable.

Thus, considerations should include how and in what form such information is maintained along with maintaining security protocols.

AU LLC has assisted businesses with identifying trade secret protectable assets, advising them on how best to maintain the security of those assets, and enforcing the rights under both the ITSA and under contract.

You can count on our experienced attorneys to advise and counsel you on how to best protect and enforce your trade secret.

Our experienced professionals, who have access to state-of-the-art forensic tools, can also conduct pre-litigation trade secret investigations.

WE ARE HERE TO SERVE YOU

We have litigated, arbitrated and mediated trade secret cases both internationally and in state and federal jurisdictions in the United States, particularly in Chicago and throughout the Midwest.

We have represented clients ranging from start-ups to established, large companies across a wide-range of industries. Plus, we are familiar with prosecuting and defending trade secret claims under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and more.

Trade secrets are often the key to a business’s success, and failing to protect those secrets and the commercial advantage they bring can lead to the destruction of that business. Trade secrets can be responsible for your market edge and should be protected like the crucial assets that they are.

For more information about trade secret protections or for help in preventing your trade secrets from being misappropriated, contact an experienced attorney at AU LLC today.

Click here to contact us now. You can also call 312-900-9426 or email [email protected]. We will work hard to ensure your trade secrets are protected!