Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Intellectual Property Infringement

Broadly defined, intellectual property may be any type of information that has value to the commercial marketplace. It is typically thought of as patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets, but also concerns the broader umbrella known as unfair competition. Balancing these protections, the law does not allow a "mortgage on the brain" and so, for instance, if you use trade secret information in the development of a new product, you would be infringing, but if you gain industry knowledge because you are working for a client in a particular field, they cannot claim rights to the competitively valuable information you learn. You need to have an attorney review any agreements you have with Company A to see if IP is defined and what you have agreed to do or refrain from doing. You also need to review your business plan with the attorney to determine if there are ways to minimize the risk of an infringement action. After doing everything you can to minimize these risks, there still is the possibility of an action being filed, quite simply because they have a right to be paranoid about your intentions and basically anyone can file a lawsuit. The question then becomes how much it costs to get the matter resolved and can your new venture survive the possibility it will have to justify its actions. This becomes in great part a business question rather than a legal question, although an attorney can help you reason out the potential risks and what strategies you would employ if those risks become reality. I know this is a really generalized recommendation, but there is really no way to make a specific legal recommendation without much more information and an interactive discussion.

Re: Intellectual Property Infringement

I agree with Ms. Cowin; however, there is an aspect of your facts that isn't clearly part of the concern you identified (the definition of IP) and which concerns me.

Specifically, you note that you would be careful not to GIVE AWAY any of Company A's trade secrets. You did not, however, ask about another problem: Will you PROFIT FROM Company A's trade secrets even though you don't disclose them to third parties?

I'd suggest that you do a little research on your own into what is forbidden and what the harmed party's remedies are under the California version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Civil Code sections 3426 to 3426.11. You can probably find the Act on line and its language is pretty easy for intelligent laypersons to understand (although a full appreciation of how it's applied in court is a research attorney's job) and additional research should turn up Google references to cases, annotations and discussions.