Protecting Your Intellectual Property

Trade Secret Litigation & Counseling

As businesses in Texas operate in a new world where trade secrets are at risk of leaving with the departure of each employee, partner, or executive, sensitive information such as business plans, customer information, processes, formulas, and other materials can be shared with anyone, anywhere. These confidential trade secrets can just as easily walk out on an external drive in the pocket of a disgruntled former employee, or show up unannounced in the hands of a competitor.

Sophisticated businesses know that protecting and policing this information is critical, and retain skilled counsel to protect and monitor these interests before they are compromised or a competitor’s proprietary information appears in their workplaces.

Benton Williams PLLC represents and advises clients on how best to protect their valuable intellectual property—developing policies and practices to preserve and protect the trade secrets of the businesses we represent. We serve our clients in both the protection of their trade secrets and the enforcement of their rights when their trade secrets are misappropriated or transferred without their knowledge or consent.  

We work closely with clients to ensure that valuable assets are identified and protected, and, if necessary, to pursue remedies available under the recently enacted Defend Trade Secrets Act and state law Uniform Trade Practices Acts.

We consult with personnel at every level of a client’s corporate structure, outlining policies, working with individual employees on agreements and collaborating with executives to identify corporate intellectual property assets. These clients benefit from not only our intellectual property experience but also our collaborative approach to protecting trade secrets as we work closely with the firm’s labor and employment lawyers, privacy team and transactional practices to develop holistic strategies. Our integrated teams advise clients on the pros and cons of protecting their information in various ways, such as through trademark prosecution and enforcement, copyright registrations, trade secrets and all combinations thereof.

We address trade secret issues that arise in the workplace, such as employee use of the internet, social media and other new media. We address trade secret issues relating to mergers, asset acquisitions and other transactions. Our full-service approach ensures every aspect of trade secret protection is handled thoroughly, rapidly, and skillfully.

Protecting Your Business

We counsel clients on the importance of recognizing potential trade secrets early, before they are inadvertently lost, and we develop comprehensive protection programs, often as components of broader intellectual property policies and practices. We handle due diligence investigations, develop employee training programs and assess protection plans for the intellectual property assets for the clients we serve.  Our custom programs are tailored to the unique needs of each client and include services to ensure each practice is implemented and maintained.

Protecting Your Trade Secrets

Our firm is skilled at structuring, drafting and negotiating comprehensive and enforceable agreements to protect trade secrets and confidential information, including confidentiality agreements on behalf of those we serve. Our firm routinely develops nondisclosure agreements for a range of transactions where trade secrets may be disclosed or developed, including Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) with actual and prospective customers, employees, vendors, suppliers, licensors, licensees and investors.

Trade Secret Investigation, Enforcement, and Litigation

Our firm represents clients to investigate, prevent, contain, and achieve court ordered relief for the threatened or actual misuse of client trade secrets, including competitive intelligence, client and investor information, as well as business, marketing, and advertising strategies. Whenever possible, we protect our clients’ trade secrets with cease and desist demands and pre-litigation negotiation.

With that said, as a firm deeply experienced in the protection of trade secrets and the enforcement of our clients’ rights, we always remain ready to move on a moment’s notice to the Courthouse, and we have achieved successful results for our clients across the state of Texas in both state and federal courts.