Protecting Your Company’s Proprietary Information

Not everything is patentable or able to be copyrighted. Some proprietary information (think the formula for Classic Coke or KFC’s secret herb and spices) must be kept secret.

Proprietary information for your company can represent the future of your business operations. While you can copyright and trademark a variety of valuable assets within your company, the proprietary information that makes up your business operations is something that needs to be kept secret. 

The proprietary information that you have within your company is often well outside of the public domain and in some cases it requires a high level of management in order to access the information at all. This type of information for your business can represent trade secrets or confidential information such as employee records and more. 

A trade secret is a formula, strategy, application, technique, recipe or a process that has a direct linkage to the economic value or worth of your business. If you were to disclose this information it might be possible that you would lose your edge in the marketplace. The confidential information within your business is a much broader term and this can encompass trade secrets, unique manufacturing techniques, employee data, customer call lists and financial data on your company.

Protecting this information represents protecting the future of your business. In order to adequately protect proprietary information it’s important you have the right legal checks and boundaries in place to manage your risk. 

Having an attorney help you protect your proprietary information with nondisclosure agreement contracts, a confidentiality policy, or commingling information policy can help you to prevent this proprietary information from leaking and damaging your company. An attorney can also represent you in employee departures and with the draft of NDA and noncompete clauses. With a consultation through an Atlanta attorney you can make sure that your organization has the policies in place to protect your proprietary information.