Is a Memorized Customer List a Trade Secret?
By E. Joel Wesp One of the most common concerns for Ohio businesses is protecting their trade secrets. One of the most jealously guarded items is a company’s customer list and associated customer contact information, purchasing history, and preferences. Let’s say you have an employee who is one of your top sales producers. This employee generates percent of your total sales and serves or at least knows over 75% of your customer base. You never get around to having your attorney prepare an employment agreement you intended to have this employee sign when he first started. For that reason you have no written noncompete or nonsolicitation agreement that would prevent this key person from leaving your company and going to work for competitor. Likewise you do not have this individual sign a written confidentiality agreement in which you’ve spelled out all of the business and proprietary information you expected this employee to maintain in confidence while he was employed and never to use o
