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Start-Up Companies and Venture Capital

Trade Secrets

Employees who leave an employer to start their own venture may risk inadvertantly taking "trade secrets" that are the property of their previous employer with them. To the extent former employees rely on these trade secrets to create a new business opportunity, former employees raise a risk of violating legal obligations to their former employers. Below you'll find two different causes of action related to theft of trade secrets. The first is a common law private right of action. The second is a federal criminal offense.