Sharing Pricing with Customers Undercuts Trade Secret Claim

In Southwest Stainless, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that although pricing generally may be protectable, a court needs look at the specific pricing at issue in the case to determine whether the company protected that pricing. Ultimately, the Court in Southwest Stainless held that sharing pricing with a customer, without restriction, removes any claim of confidentiality that may have existed.

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Inevitable Disclosure: An Introduction to the Invisible Non-Compete

The doctrine of inevitable disclosure represents another phase in the evolution of the common law’s permissive attitude toward covenants not to compete, since the doctrine permits a court to prohibit an employee from competing with his former employer even in the absence of any contract.

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When are Client Lists Trade Secrets? A Case Study: Atwood Agency v. Black

A recurring issue in my practice is whether information known by a former employee is a “trade secret.” Many times the information at issue is a client list or simply the identify of clients and/or customers. The South Carolina Supreme Court considered this issue in the case of Atwood Agency v. Black, 374 S.C. 68, 646 S.E.2d 882 (S.C. 2007).

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What’s (all the) Muckenfuss about? Trade Secrets and Non-Disclosure Provisions

In Carolina Chemical Equipment Company v. Muckenfuss, 322 S.C. 289, 471 S.E.2d 721 (S.C. Ct. App. 1996), the South Carolina Court of Appeals held that when a broad trade secret provision “basically has the effect of a covenant to to compete, [the Court] must subject it to the same scrutiny as a covenant not to compete.” Although the South Carolina legislature attempted to limit the holding of Muckenfuss the following year, the case remains important for several reasons: It began the difficult task of culling “trade secrets” from general business information as well as because it did so in the defense of an employee’s right to work.

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