When a recession hits, businesses face challenges in protecting their intellectual property. One of the biggest issues is how to protect your trade secrets when employees are leaving the company due to layoffs or reorganization or simply to find a more stable position. Even the best intentioned businesses and the most honest employees have problems in preserving trade secrets when they part ways. Here is a short check-list to protect your trade secrets.

  • Identify the trade secrets worth fighting for before a recession hits.

You cannot enforce trade secrets unless and until you can articulate them. Yet many businesses have only a vague notion of what among their secrets is important to them, or even what actually constitutes a trade secret. Not all of the information you keep confidential is a trade secret, and not all trade secrets are equally important. You need to know what your trade secrets are to protect them. For example, if you sell prepared meals, where you sell them and for how much is public information, but the unique recipes for your specialty dishes may be valuable trade secrets.