What Do You Need to Prove to Get an Injunction in a Trade Secrets Case?
California trade secrets attorneys provide assistance to companies who have trade secrets that they wish to protect. We can help you to take active steps to protect your valuable trade secrets, including ensuring that you use non-disclosure agreements when hiring employees who will be in a position to discover valuable proprietary information during the course of the performance of their job functions. We can also help you to take appropriate legal action in cases where you fear that your trade secrets will be disclosed or to seek appropriate legal remedies in circumstances where your company’s private and proprietary information has been publicly revealed or has been revealed to a competitor.
Trade secrets law is a complex area of law and it is vital that companies with valuable secrets to protect consult with knowledgeable Irvine trade secrets attorneys so the information that gives their companies an edge does not become public knowledge. Brown & Charbonneau, LLP knows the ins-and-outs of trade secrets laws and we can assist your company both with proactively protecting your secrets and with responding in a legally appropriate manner when your trade secrets are in jeopardy of being revealed. Give us a call to find out about the ways in which our legal team can assist your business.
What Must You prove to Get an Injunction in a Trade Secrets Case?
According to the American Bar Association , “In most trade secret cases, circumstances will dictate asking for a temporary restraining order (TRO), preliminary injunction, and/or other prophylactic relief at the start of the case, in addition to whatever damages and permanent injunctive relief the plaintiff intends to seek at trial.”
A preliminary injunction may be granted by the court when specific conditions are met. The plaintiff — the company bringing the action to protect its trade secrets — must prove that there is a high likelihood the organization will succeed on the merits of the case. If it is clear that the plaintiff will not win in a full lawsuit related to the disclosure of trade secrets, the court will not grant an injunction.
The plaintiff must also be able to show that the disclosure of the secret information could cause irreparable harm that it would not be possible to remedy after the disclosure is made. The irreparable harm that the plaintiff would likely suffer must be greater than the infringement of the defendant’s rights that occurs as a result of the injunction.
An example of a situation where the court may grant an injunction would be, for example, if a former executive of a popular best-selling soda company said he or she was going to release the soda company’s top secret recipe to a competitor or to the public. Once the recipe is publicly released and becomes widespread knowledge, it would no longer be possible to undo the damage that has been done by the disclosure. Competing companies and private individuals would be able to access the information about the top secret recipe, and the financial loss that this could cause the company to incur would be immeasurable and would be more than anyone is likely able to afford to pay in legal damages.
In such a case, the court could issue an injunction ordering the executive of the company not to release the secret information until a full court case has taken place and a decision is reached on the merits of the case. If the plaintiff did not prevail and prove that the information should be protected, the injunction would be lifted and the defendant would be free to speak. If the plaintiff prevailed, the defendant would continue to be subject to a court order not to reveal trade secrets and could be required to pay any damages that occurred.
Getting Help from Irvine Trade Secrets Attorneys
Irvine trade secrets attorneys at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP will assist you in determining if an injunction could be an option when you are concerned that someone is about to reveal your valuable trade secrets. If you think that your company could suffer irreparable harm because your secrets are revealed, then it is vital to take action right away. Our legal team will work aggressively within the legal system to help you to keep your intellectual property safe.
To learn more about the ways in which our experienced attorneys can assist you in trade secrets protection so your company does not lose your competitive edge due to unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information, give us a call at 866-237-8129 or contact us online today.
