The life sciences industry is highly interconnected and, therefore, fosters outsourcing arrangements, joint ventures, and collaborations between facilities and organizations, which, consequently, imply that employees are in constant mobility. As a result, these organizations and companies must understand how to defend against trade secret theft claims and take the necessary precautions to protect their confidential information and trade secrets. For instance, this is particularly crucial to employers in fields like testing services, which are characterized by the less common use of patent protection.
As a continuation of our discussion, this blog post provides an overview of issues employers in the life sciences industry should consider when working with trainees, volunteers, and interns.
Employer Best Practices for Protecting & Maintaining Secrecy of Trade Secrets
Employers are responsible for taking reasonable measures and efforts to protect their trade secrets and maintain the secret status of the same. As one would expect, a trade secret becomes a lost asset once it is disclosed and/or used by someone who should not have. In this blog, we provide you with a few best practices and measures that employers may take in protecting their trade secrets and curbing any potential instances of misappropriation. These security measures include, but are not limited to, ensuring that:
- Information considered proprietary is indicated and notified– employees entrusted with handling trade secrets should be notified that such information is proprietary and should not, without express consent and permission, disclosed or, otherwise, used for other purposes other than the owners’. Accordingly, documents holding such information should be stamped as “secret” or “confidential.”
- Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements have been completed by recipients of trade secrets – employers should require recipients of trade secrets to fill out and complete non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements.
- Exit interviews have been performed – employers should conduct exit interviews on departing individuals. Before the final exit, the employee should, in writing, acknowledge and agree to the obligation of ensuring the confidentiality and secrecy of trade secrets.
- The access of employees to sensitive information has been limited– the access of employees to sensitive information should be limited by using a one-time password and granting access on a ‘need to know’ basis.
- Data security measures have been instituted and implemented– in addition to making sure that individuals responsible for the maintenance of sensitive information have been trained, appropriate data security measures should be implemented.
- Physical security measures have been maintained – necessary physical security features such as “Authorized Personnel Only” signage, security cameras, after-hours security personnel, keypad authorization, and alarms, among others, should be used in facilities where sensitive information is kept.
- Formal policies on the use, against misuse, and maintaining the confidentiality of trade secrets have been created – in addition to providing appropriate training on matters such as inadvertent disclosure, formal policies regarding how to maintain, control the use, and/or against the misuse of trade secrets should be established and implemented.
In Part XIII of this series and our blog post titled “Understanding Restrictive Measures in the Life Sciences Industry,” we shall move the discussion forward by providing you with an overview of issues surrounding restrictive covenants within the life sciences industry.
In the meantime, stay tuned for more legal guidance, training, and education. In the interim, if there are any questions or comments, please let us know at the Contact Us page!
Always rising above the bar,
Isaac T.,
Legal Writer, Author, & Publisher.