The Pillars of Trade Secret Success: Clarity, Contracts, and Truthfulness
Navigating trade secret litigation demands a strategic and meticulous approach, with recent California case law underscoring several key imperatives. Firstly, the initial pleading of trade secret misappropriation requires a high degree of particularity. Plaintiffs must move beyond vague generalities and clearly delineate the specific information they claim as proprietary. This is particularly critical when dealing with customer lists or processes; providing sufficient identifying characteristics allows the defendant to understand the scope of the alleged trade secret and enables the court to assess its potential trade secret status. Failing to articulate the trade secret with precision at the outset can significantly hinder a plaintiff’s ability to succeed in later stages of litigation and in some cases extinguish the case at the very start.
