If the Employee Develops the Trade Secret, Can the Employee Take Copies After Termination of Employment?
Often, the employee is the person who actually develops or acquires the particular trade secret in the first place. For example, if the employee is in a technical position, the employee may develop unique manufacturing methods and/or formulas that are utilized by the employer. If the employee is in a sales position, the employee may develop promotional materials, “customer lists”, and/or “prospect lists” while working for the employer. The sales employee will often collect customer information such as business cards, direct dial phone numbers of key decision-makers, e-mail addresses, etc. This information may be valuable in the hands of a competitor. Even if the identity of the customer itself is well known in the industry, this level of detailed customer contact information may nonetheless by highly valuable. This is especially true if the customer has many internal departments and hundreds or thousands of employees. Simply knowing “who to call” and what number to dial, or which e-mai
