Are Your Company's Secrets Safe? Thomas' English Muffins Thought Their Nooks and Crannies Were

For over one hundred years, Thomas' English Muffins has been making its english muffins with the famous "nooks and crannies." Until this year, Thomas' probably thought its secret to the muffin was safe. However, Chris Botticella, a former senior vice president for Bimbo Foods, the owner of Thomas' English Muffins, is involved in a lawsuit with his former employer after he accepted a job with its competitor Hostess.

So what is the big deal? People are allowed to change jobs, right? Well, Mr. Botticella happens to be one of less than ten people in the world with full knowledge as to how Thomas' gets the "nooks and crannies" into its muffins. Mr. Botticella is familiar with the Thomas' muffin trade secrets pertaining to the equipment used in production, the recipe for the muffins, as well as the baking techniques. Bimbo, concerned about Mr. Botticella sharing its trade secrets with Hostess, filed a trade secret lawsuit with the Philadelphia District Court.

The judge in the case granted a preliminary injunction ruling that Mr. Botticella cannot start working for Hostess because of his extensive knowledge of Bimbo's trade secrets and it is "substantially likely, if not inevitable" that he would disclose Bimbo's secrets to Hostess. Mr. Botticella's attorney is appealling the decision. Other issues pertaining to this case which have not been confirmed are whether Mr. Botticella informed Bimbo of his intention to quit, if he continued to attend strategic meetings knowing he was going to work for a competitor, if he downloaded company secrets onto his personal laptop, and whether he would be involved in the production of muffins for Hostess.

Does your company have edgy new technology, a highly successful process, a new software application?

If you've answered yes but do not have a patent or trade secret protection, your company could be at risk. According to the American Society for Industrial Security, companies are incurring enormous losses from the misappropriation of their trade secrets.

A 2007 survey of 144 Fortune 500 companies was performed, and 60% reported actual or suspected losses of trade secrets. The survey respondents reported financial losses anywhere from less than $10,000 to more than $5.5 million. Not only did these companies suffer financial loss but also a loss in their reputation, image, goodwill, competitive advantage, core technology, and profitability

So what is a trade secret? It can be a technique, formula, concept, practice or compilation of information that gives your company a competitive advantage. Most importantly, to acquire trade secret status, the information must be kept secret.

What is not a trade secret? All information in the public domain; advertising literature; and technical specifications; operation manuals; and issued patents.

If your company has non-patented know-how or a new product concept, it is important to consider whether this information would be best protected through a patent or a trade secret. The following factors are helpful in determining whether your company has a protectable trade secret:

To what extent is the information known outside of the business; To what extent is the information known by employees and others involved in the business; What measures are taken to guard the secrecy of the information; What is the value of the information to the business and its competitors; How much money or effort has been expended in developing the information; and What is the ease or difficulty with which the information could be properly acquired or duplicated by others?

Advantage of a trade secret:

Trade secrets do not expire while patents are valid for only twenty years. Unlike patents, to get protection, your company will not be required to file an application with the Patent Office disclosing information about the method or product to the Patent Office, which information eventually can become public.

Disadvantage to opting for a trade secret:

Disclosure of the "secret" can destroy its value and ability to be protected. No definite time period on how long company will have protection. Others can reverse engineer the method or product.

Regardless of whether you decide to protect your company assets through a patent or trade secret, it is best to require employees to enter into non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. Non-compete agreements are very common, and an employer often requires its employees to sign this agreement to deter them from quitting to join a competitor. This agreement can be used to restrict the employee's participation in a certain market or industry after leaving the company. A non-disclosure agreement can also be helpful in protecting the company's assets.

This type of agreement is also known as a confidentiality agreement and is a contract used to protect information considered to be proprietary or confidential. Parties involved in executing this type of agreement promise not to divulge secret or protected information disclosed during employment or other business transactions.

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Why Every IP Lawyer Should Have A Strategy Product In Their Web Marketing Strategies

Let me start this article by stating an obvious fact - no IP legal services professional wants to spend money on a web marketing strategy if it does not result in more high-quality clients. Yet, day after day, this is exactly what many actually do because their web marketing strategies are not thought out properly.

Now, this does not mean there was no marketing plan in the first place. It just means that, more often than not, the components of the web marketing strategy do not support what should be the ultimate goal - which is building trust with prospects and focusing on providing free information at the start of the relationship via blogs, newsletters or free reports.

However, any prospects that opt-in to receive communications from you (which is crucial for lawyers) still have to be convinced to want to work with you. A key objection they might have would be the cost of purchasing your IP legal services, simply because it appears to be such a huge leap from simply talking to you to actually paying you. This gap needs to be bridged to make it easier for prospects to do business with you.

Any web marketing strategy worth its salt should incorporate campaigns that point prospects towards low-priced resources, products, webinars or seminars that prospects feel happier to purchase. These should also help them make their minds up as to what they ultimately need to buy. As prospects then get to know the value of what you provide, you need to think about strategy products that effectively form the penultimate step before they choose to purchase your high-priced legal services.

What is a Strategy Product? Any resource (e.g. book, report or CD set) or event (e.g. webinar or seminar) that gives prospects a specific roadmap showing them how to achieve their desired outcome, and which they would be happy to pay for. The price for the strategy product is lower than that for comprehensive IP legal services, and allows you to provide guidelines that clarify issues prospects may have, or at least educates them on what they need to do, as an interim step to prospects asking you for your high-priced services.

A basic roadmap would be as follows:

Create a marketing campaign that advertises a free report with information you know IP legal services prospects are actively searching for. Capture the details of those that want the information (making sure you provide the option for them to unsubscribe if they don't want to be contacted further), and repeat the campaigns to point prospects to other information you have available. Use the feedback gathered from subscribers to create a seminar in which you provide specific, actionable guidelines that prospects can follow to address key issues they face related to IP legal services. This seminar would, in this case, be your strategy product. The key thing to take away is that you can charge people to attend the seminar if you have done the groundwork well, have a hot topic and invited those that are willing to pay to attend the seminar if it gives them the results they are looking for. There are other alternatives to seminars when thinking about a strategy product people are willing to pay for. This includes a special in-depth report, CD set with a series of presentations and templates that let prospects work through a programme themselves, or a webinar series with the opportunity to get limited time from you to deal with specific queries. The option selected has to suit you and your target niche.

The strategy products essentially allow you to engage with prospects at a deep enough level for them to overcome any reservations they may have about working with you. More importantly, they also give you the chance to demonstrate the value you provide so that price becomes less of an issue in subsequent discussions when they decide to work with you above all other options available. That is why they are increasingly essential in today's business environment.

At a basic level, running seminars should be an option that all IP legal services professionals consider. The seminars should, ideally, be targeted at prospects that are already following what you do. Your web marketing strategy should, therefore, be designed to create a continuous stream of followers that look forward to the information you provide.

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