Early American Trade Secrets Cases

Just about every type of business possesses some level of trade secrets and many businesses do not address this issue until it's too late. However, trade secrets are not a recent legal innovation. They have been used by businesses in America for a long time. Read this brief article for a brief history into the early of development of trade secrets law.

Here's a summary outline of the 2 cases mentioned in the article:

• Vickery v. Welch, 36 Mass. 523 - This 1837 case established the principle that there is value in commercial secrecy and recognized that intellectual property exists outside of the patent laws.
• Peabody v. Norfolk, 98 Mass. 452 - This 1868 case established that a trade secret needs to be enforced in order to protect a “breach of trust,” between an employer and an employee or parties to a contract therefore “courts of equity will restrain a party from making a disclosure of secrets communicated to him in the course of a confidential employment; and it matters not, in such cases, whether the secrets be secrets of trade or secrets of title, or any other secrets of the party important to his interests.”

If you need help in protecting your trade secrets or if you need to file a trade secrets claim, contact me at danny@djimlaw.com or call me at 929.322.3546.
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