Business strategies such as marketing programs, advertising campaigns, business plans and new product listings can be protected as trade secrets. For example, the courts have decided that marketing strategies for the sale of propane gas and a business plan for a new franchise are trade secrets. A business method, type of activity or way of doing business is also a protective trade secret. Examples include a mortgage interest rate analysis system or an employee education process. Select Alternative 2 if the agreement is with a current employee. To ensure that the agreement is legally binding, the employee should receive some value on the normal salary and benefits for signing – for example. B, cash, extra leave, stock options or other benefits. Include the compensation to be paid. It does not need to be substantial.

For example, several additional days off per year should do so. Imagine, for example, that the receiving party uses the secret information in two products, but not in a third. You are aware that the receiving party violates the agreement, but you are willing to allow it because you receive more money and you do not have a competing product. After a few years, however, you no longer want to allow the use of secrecy in the third product. A waiver provision allows you to take legal action. The receiving party cannot defend itself by claiming that it has relied on your current practice of accepting its violations. Of course, the provision varies from side to side. If you violate the agreement, you cannot rely on the other party to accept your behavior in the past. Your relationship with the receiving party is usually defined by the agreement you sign. For example, an employment, licensing or investment agreement.

For a stranger, it may seem like you have a different relationship, for example. B a partnership or joint venture. It is possible that an unscrupulous company will try to take advantage of this appearance and make a third-party deal. In other words, the receiving party can claim to be your partner to gain an advantage from a distributor or a sub-licensed. In order to avoid liability for such a situation, most agreements contain a provision such as this, which excludes any provision other than that defined in the agreement. We recommend that you include such a provision and ensure that it is adapted to the agreement. If you use it z.B in an employment contract, remove the reference to employees. If you use it in a partnership agreement, you insert the reference to partners, etc. Option Agreement – An agreement in which one party pays the other to have the opportunity to use an innovation, idea or product at a later date. The inevitable disclosure doctrine – Under this rule established by the courts, which has only been adopted by a few courts, a court may prevent an ex-employee from working for a competitor if the former employer shows that the worker “inevitably discloses” the former employer`s business secrets.

NDA Job Interview – You may end up revealing trade secrets if you interview potential employees, especially for sensitive jobs. Anyone you hire should be required to sign an NDA (or employment contract with a confidentiality clause). But of course, interviewees you don`t hire won`t sign an employment contract or employment contract.