Second, it assists management in those situations where trade secrets must be revealed to outsiders. Third, it demonstrates your company's commitment to trade secret protection, which can be important in litigation. Educate your employees about your Trade Secret Protection Policy and monitor their compliance. The goal of a Trade Secret Protection Policy is to make it difficult, or impossible, for your competitors to obtain access to your trade secrets. Your company's employees can be a serious threat to that goal.
Employees often reveal trade secrets inadvertently.
In addition, unscrupulous employees may reveal trade secrets for personal gain, and terminated employees may reveal trade secrets for revenge. By educating your employees about the importance of trade secret protection, and the risks they run if they violate your secrecy procedures, you can minimize the likelihood that your trade secrets will be disclosed. Trade secret protection should be discussed with employees before they are hired, periodically throughout their employment and upon leaving the company. At pre-employment interviews, new employees should be given a copy of the Trade Secret Protection Policy and the company's commitment to trade secret protection should be explained. Employees who will have access to valuable trade secrets should be required to sign confidentiality agreements obligating them to keep your company's trade secrets confidential.