Trade Secrets and Confidential Know-How

Contacts:
Robert Anderson, London
Steven P. Hollman, Washington, D.C.
Eric J. Lobenfeld, New York
Henry Wheare, Hong Kong

Among the many forms of intellectual property tied up in your company, the most valuable is likely to be information that must remain confidential for the business to thrive: the composition of products; business and industrial processes; and customer and supplier relationships.

Protecting such confidential information or other trade secrets is no simple matter. Procedures should be in place to identify commercially important proprietary information. Strategies are needed to protect it and to prevent its misuse by third parties. Care needs to be taken when licensing or selling a trade secret, just as with other forms of intellectual property.

With experienced intellectual property lawyers based in 14 jurisdictions in Asia, Europe, and the United States, Hogan Lovells is well placed to advise you on all aspects of protecting confidential information. We can help you draft employee agreements covering confidentiality and nondisclosure. We can formulate policies and practices to help prevent the theft of trade secrets by former, current, and future employees.  We can prepare agreements for the license or sale of industrial secrets.

Should litigation be unavoidable, our lawyers command the experience, industry knowledge, and geographical scope necessary to handle the relevant proceedings, whether heard in court or in international arbitration. If necessary, we can seek an injunction to prevent the misuse of information or to recover it from third parties.