The resolution of intellectual property issues often calls for an attorney who has exemplary legal skills and experience in effectively negotiating solutions that are both legally sound and resistant to future litigation. To find out how our firm can work with you to address your needs, contact us to schedule a consultation and case evaluation with an intellectual property attorney.
Protecting IP Interests in the Nutritional Supplements Industry
Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman has a fully developed intellectual property practice to complement our ability to serve the business and needs of natural foods and dietary supplements manufacturers, importers, distributors and advertisers nationwide. Contact us in New York to discuss the trademark, copyright and trade secrets aspects of your business with an experienced IP lawyer.
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At Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman, our attorneys show clients how to maximize the value of their trademark and copyright holdings by looking beyond the obvious for registration and protection against infringement. We can review your product line, packaging and Web site and generally find additional material to protect. Further value can often be realized through forming a subsidiary to act as a holding company for your intellectual property interests.
Contact Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman in New York to learn how our intellectual property attorneys can protect your company's interests on matters ranging from trademark or copyright registration to the pursuit or defense of infringement claims in the health food and nutritional supplements industry.
Trade Secrets
The protection of trade secrets is essential to the health of countless businesses. A trade secret is business information such as a formula, pattern, method or device that has the potential to provide financial gain for its owner. The secret is kept confidential because it is the secrecy that gives its owner the advantage over other businesses. Generally, employees with access to trade secrets have a duty not to disclose them in a way that harms the owner. Unlike patented items, trade secrets do not need to be registered with a federal agency to be protected. Indeed, if trade secrets were registered as patents, they would be available to the public — and no longer secret. The owner of a trade secret should take reasonable measures to protect it. Seek the advice of an attorney from Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman, LLP in New York, New York, to protect your intellectual property interests.
When Is Confidential Business Information a Trade Secret?
Through statute and case law, the criteria for identifying trade secrets have evolved. The level of protection given to confidential business information is dependent upon whether the information is easily available to competing firms through legitimate means. Similarly, the resources the owner of the alleged trade secret invested in developing the secret helps in the determination. The more likely it is that the information would provide a commercial advantage to competitors, the more likely it is to be considered a trade secret. The owner of the information must make reasonable efforts, considering the circumstances, to protect the secret. This may mean imposing extreme restrictions on which employees have access to the information, or it may mean merely not disclosing the information in a public setting. It depends on the facts in question.
A court typically will look at all relevant aspects of the information's development, confidentiality and profit potential in deciding whether it should be protected as a trade secret.
Misappropriation and Disclosure of a Trade Secret
The misappropriation of a trade secret can transpire in several ways. It occurs when someone acquires the secret through improper means and then uses it inequitably. "Improper means" includes theft, espionage and breach of confidence. Using the trade secret "inequitably" can include integrating the information into a manufacturing process or selling the information to a competitor of the owner. It can also occur when a third party knowingly acquires the secret from someone who is improperly disclosing it, or even disclosing it by mistake. If the third party acquires the knowledge accidentally, it must not use or reveal the secret.
To succeed in court, the plaintiff must prove that it owned a trade secret; that the secret was disclosed in confidence to someone; that the person then used or disclosed the secret; and that the use or disclosure harmed the plaintiff.
Reverse engineering, which occurs when a product is released to the public and the public is able to detect the formerly secret technology inherent in the product, is not forbidden. The source code of computer software, however, is not considered to be open to reverse engineering.
Remedies for the Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
The owner of a misappropriated trade secret may seek an injunction and/or monetary damages. At the court's discretion, the plaintiff may be awarded damages for its loss; the defendant's gain; or reasonable royalties. If you have concerns about trade secret law, an attorney with Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman, LLP in New York, New York, can help.
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