To develop consensus and non-partisan principles for best practices in managing trade secret litigation and well-vetted recommendations for consideration in protecting trade secrets, recognizing that every organization, both large and small, has and uses trade secrets; that trade secret disputes frequently intersect with other important public policies such as employee mobility and international trade; and that trade secret disputes are litigated in both state and federal courts.

Robert Milligan, Seyfarth Partner and Co-Chair of the Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud, and Non-Competes Practice Group, is an inaugural member of the WG12 Steering Committee, which consists of experts in the trade secret issues.

The WG12’s first order of business is to identify a set of 3 or 4 commentary drafting team topics on tipping point issues in trade secret law, both litigation and pre-litigation, that lend themselves to the Sedona consensus, non-partisan commentary drafting process.

Presently under consideration are the following topics:

Corporate

• Emerging relevance of cybersecurity considerations in the corporate governance of trade secrets
• The employee life cycle (hiring, training, supervision, and exit) relating to trade secrets
• Third-party sharing of trade secret information, focusing on NDA formation and management during and after B2B interactions, but also including disclosures to government

Litigation

• Identification: how best to grapple with the need to identify trade secrets during litigation, under varied circumstances
• Protective orders: how best to protect the integrity of trade secrets while conducting litigation about them
• Equitable relief: looking at the range of equitable (i.e., non-monetary) remedies suitable at different stages of litigation

For more information on WG12 and to participate in the group and the other Sedona Conference Working Groups, click here.