Recommendations and Global Considerations A thorough policy and set of processes is essential from an administrative point of view for the protection of trade secrets and private data. First and foremost, businesses ought to make it a habit to execute and uphold strong agreements on confidentiality to safeguard their trade secrets. Subject to state law and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1836, employers may create confidentiality obligations through standalone agreements or as a part of an employment agreement. (Dibernardo et al., Trade secret protection in corporations: Best practices
2022). These agreements may specify how to define trade secret and private information to the company, in addition to the limitations
on the use and disclosure of that information by the employee and the duties that will persist beyond the termination of the employment relationship. Non-solicitation and non-competition agreements are additional ways to prevent employees from interfering with clients, vendors, or coworkers who could own or represent trade secret information.
Administrative processes should ideally be in place to inform employees of their legal obligations and to make it clear, before any issues occur, the extent of those requirements, despite the fact this is not what the Pfizer complaint mentions. If an employee downloads a spreadsheet or report they created while working, for example, they might not want the employer's private information included in the file; instead, they may consider the document's format as common knowledge. Workers have claimed not to understand the difference between generic knowledge picked up on the job and trade secrets owned by their employer. In any event, training employees regarding how far to protect employer trade secrets and confidential information can help to prevent misunderstandings in honest attempts and support an employer's legal claim that it has adequately protected its trade secrets. As may be found in employee handbooks, businesses must also adhere to thorough trade secret and confidentiality protocols and standards.
