Competitive activities and protection of trade secrets

Many companies lack a clear strategy for protecting their trade secrets, such as customer and supplier records, technical know-how or marketing materials. Often, the focus is on the business's goals and success rather than on countering the risks of important information being exploited by competitors or unauthorized parties.

Employees have a far-reaching duty of loyalty to their employer during their employment. This means that they must not act in a way that harms the company, and they are obliged to prioritize the employer's interests over their own. Starting a competing business during an ongoing employment is considered a gross breach of employment obligations and can often be grounds for dismissal.

How we can help you combat unfair competition and protect your trade secrets

We offer a wide range of services to help you protect your business against unfair competition and ensure that trade secrets remain protected:

  • Establishment of non-competition clauses: We help you draft binding and reasonable non-compete clauses that prevent employees from engaging in competitive activities during and after employment.
  • Establishment of non-solicitation clauses: We draft binding and reasonable non-solicitation clauses that prevent employees from starting competing businesses and actively recruiting colleagues from your company.
  • Establishment of customer protection clauses: We help you establish customer protection clauses that protect your company's relationships with existing customers from being affected by former employees transferring to competing businesses.
  • Establishment of confidentiality agreements: We help you establish confidentiality agreements to ensure that sensitive information is not disseminated to unauthorized parties or competitors.
  • Advice on protection strategies: We offer advice and support in developing strategies and processes to effectively protect your trade secrets and prevent risks of information leaks or improper use of your business information.
  • Monitoring and compliance: We help you monitor and follow up on compliance with non-competition and confidentiality clauses, so that any violations can be detected and addressed in a timely manner.
  • Handling of breach of clauses: If a violation of competition, customer protection or confidentiality clauses occurs, we offer support in legal action and representation in any disputes.
  • Staff training: We also offer training for management teams and employees on the importance of protecting trade secrets and avoiding competitive activities, to prevent violations and strengthen the organization's internal protection.

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