Protecting Your Mobile App IP: The Mini Missing Manual

Protecting Your Secrets

Trade secret protection is based on the simple notion that keeping information close to the chest can provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace. But simply saying that data or know-how is a trade secret doesn’t make it so; you have to actively do things that show your desire to keep the info secret.

Some companies go to extreme lengths to keep their trade secrets…well, secret. For instance, only two Coca-Cola employees ever know the trade secret Coke formula at the same time. Their identities are never disclosed to the public, and they aren’t allowed to fly on the same airplane.

Fortunately, such extraordinary secrecy measures are seldom necessary. You don’t have to turn your office into an armed camp to protect your secrets, but you do need to take reasonable precautions to keep them hidden from prying eyes. Here’s a list of the minimum safeguards a small mobile app business (like a start-up) should enact to protect its trade secrets. Follow these guidelines and, if you ever need to file a lawsuit to prevent someone from using or disclosing information in violation of an NDA, a judge would likely conclude that you took reasonable precautions to prevent the public or competitors from learning about your secrets:

• Use nondisclosure agreements. If you’re giving someone confidential info, have them sign a nondisclosure agreement. This is the single most important thing you can do to protect your trade secrets because it gives you a legal document to fall ...