The problem is that to have a trade secret, you must first have a secret. To have a secret, you have to make some effort to keep it a secret and not just leave it laying around in plain sight for any fool, including us (me), to see. These folks made no efforts to do anything to limit access or identify their secrets.

I actually think this is very common. I have only worked at a few places, so my sample is small, but I couldn’t tell you a secret from any of them if I wanted to.

I went to your seminar about 18 months ago in Milwaukee and have learned not just some pointers but some attitude from reading your emails. They are informative, and thank you.

I have a small company with some startling technology which I am bringing to industry. Some very large players are courting me and I am a stickler about NDAs etc. I find it the first hurdle, and some of these big boys complain, and want it all their way. I have politely refused to always see things their way, and have won more than one contest. I find it a great barometer about what to expect for the rest of the journey with them.

One thing I would like to see you briefly mention are the handful of trade secret laws some States have and others do not. I do business in Wisconsin, and we do have a trade secret law. I find this an interesting wrinkle in the legal gray area of IP. It might be interesting to cover that in a future posting.

* The taking of materials (lists, emails, equipment, etc)
* Recruitment of other employees still working at the old company
* Disparaging remarks (written or oral) regaridng the old company although the company can disparage you

He says after that just about everything is open and un-enforceable. Certain industries can offer a payment to contractually prevent someone from working for a competitor (a friend of mine was offered 350k from Smith Barney not to work for rival financial firms for 3 years).

Just some thoughts that might help, keep up the good work