Trade secrets

Companies face a major challenge when it comes to effective and efficient protection of their expertise. Active know-how protection affects almost every area of a business – sensitive information is by no means limited to research and development departments. Employees who routinely have access to supplier and customer data, accounts, business strategies or production reports all hold a wealth of knowledge that every company needs to protect. From a commercial perspective, know-how is thus increasingly becoming at least as important as established intangible assets such as patents, trademarks and designs.

We can help you to protect your know-how by

• offering training and workshops
• carrying out know-how audits
• reviewing your standard contracts and standard confidentiality clauses
• guiding you on implementing a comprehensive company-specific know-how protection strategy
• advising on contract negotiations in projects where know-how is crucial
• drafting non-disclosure agreements and prohibitions of competition
• taking civil and criminal action against disclosure of secrets and industrial espionage