Corporate Espionage Lawyers

 

Corporate Espionage Lawyers: Protecting Your Business from Theft of Trade Secrets

Corporate espionage, also called industrial espionage, refers to the theft of confidential information or trade secrets from a company. This type of espionage is usually done by employees, competitors, or third parties who want to benefit from the stolen information. As a business owner, protecting your intellectual property from corporate spies is crucial. That’s where corporate espionage lawyers can help.

This article will cover everything you need to know about corporate espionage and how lawyers can assist if you become a victim. Let’s dive in!

What is Corporate Espionage?

Corporate espionage involves stealing proprietary information like formulas, manufacturing processes, pricing strategies, customer lists, research and development, etc. The goal is to gain an unfair advantage over the victim company by using their hard-earned secrets.

Some common methods of corporate espionage include:

• Bribing employees to hand over data
• Hacking into company systems
• Physically breaking into offices to access files
• Posing as a legitimate business to trick the victim into revealing information
• Dumpster diving for thrown-out documents
• Using fake job interviews to gather intel from staff

Corporate espionage can be extremely costly if a competitor gets their hands on your most valuable data. It can ruin your edge in the market, allowing rivals to replicate your work and avoid years of R&D. That’s why it’s so important to work with lawyers to protect yourself.

Why Hire Corporate Espionage Lawyers?

If you discover corporate espionage being committed against your business, specialized legal help is critical. Corporate espionage lawyers have experience handling these sensitive cases and understand all the legal complexities involved.

Here are some key reasons to hire a lawyer for corporate espionage:

Investigation and Evidence Gathering

Your legal team will conduct a thorough investigation to uncover who stole your trade secrets, how they did it, and what information was compromised. Lawyers use legal tools like subpoenas, court orders, and litigation discovery to access evidence. They’ll build a solid case identifying the spies and extent of the theft.

Stop Ongoing Espionage

The lawyer can take immediate action to stop the espionage if it’s still happening. They can send cease and desist letters or get court injunctions to prevent further theft. Acting quickly limits the damage.

Determine Liability and Damages

Experienced lawyers can calculate the monetary value of your stolen secrets using forensic accounting methods. This determines the liability and damages you can recover in a lawsuit.

Negotiation and Settlement

It’s common to settle corporate espionage cases out of court. Lawyers negotiate with the defendant’s legal team to reach a fair settlement. This saves you time and money vs. prolonged litigation.

Court Representation

If a settlement can’t be reached, your lawyers will aggressively represent you in court to win a favorable judgement. Their litigation experience gives you the best chance of a positive outcome.

Reputation Protection

Lawyers can work to keep scandalous media coverage to a minimum so the espionage doesn’t tarnish your brand reputation with customers. Discretion is key.

What Laws Are Violated in Corporate Espionage?

Corporate espionage often violates numerous state and federal laws, including:

• Trade Secret Theft – Stealing proprietary information that has commercial value. This violates the Defend Trade Secrets Act and state trade secret laws. Punishments can include fines and prison time.
• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act – Illegally accessing a computer system to obtain trade secrets. Up to 10 years in prison per offense.
• Economic Espionage Act – Stealing trade secrets to benefit a foreign government. Fines up to $5 million and 15 years imprisonment.
• Breach of Contract – Violating non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.
• Tortious Interference – Intentionally damaging business relationships.
• Fraud – Deceiving the victim company through false pretenses.

The penalties can be severe depending on the laws broken. Experienced corporate espionage attorneys will know which laws apply to your unique case.

What are Some Famous Corporate Espionage Cases?

Some notable examples of corporate espionage made headlines over the years:

• Volkswagen vs. GM – In the 1990s, Jose Ignacio Lopez and several other VW executives allegedly stole thousands of documents when they left for jobs at General Motors. Volkswagen sued and the case settled for $100 million.
• IBM vs. Hitachi – Hitachi admitted that its employees obtained IBM trade secrets by paying an IBM software developer. IBM got a $30 million settlement.
• Four Chinese Military Hackers – In 2020, federal prosecutors charged four Chinese intelligence officers with hacking Equifax, Siemens, and other major companies to steal intellectual property.
• Anthony Levandowski – The former Google engineer was sentenced to 18 months for stealing self-driving car trade secrets before leaving Google for Uber.

These examples show why it’s so vital to work with legal counsel to protect against espionage. The consequences can be severe.

Protecting Your Business from Corporate Espionage

Beyond hiring lawyers, some proactive measures you can take to guard your trade secrets include:

• Restricting document access to key personnel only
• Using encryption, two-factor authentication, and other cybersecurity measures
• Requiring strong passwords and limiting admin privileges
• Conducting thorough background checks before hiring
• Making employees sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements
• Securing your physical facilities with alarms, cameras, ID badges, etc.
• Shredding printed documents instead of just tossing them
• Educating staff about protecting confidential data

Staying vigilant makes it much harder for spies to infiltrate your company. Consult with an attorney to ensure your security precautions are legally sound.

Choose Corporate Espionage Lawyers Carefully

Don’t just hire any law firm. Seek out attorneys with specific experience handling trade secret theft cases like yours. Ask candidates about their track record with similar cases. Also look for litigators skilled in investigations, negotiations, and trial advocacy.

Work with a law firm that makes client discretion a top priority. You want your lawyers to take every precaution to protect your reputation during the legal process.

Managing corporate espionage effectively requires great attention to detail and discretion. Protect your hard work. Partner with vigilant attorneys who will aggressively defend your business interests. With the right legal team, you can limit the damage from theft of your trade secrets and stop future espionage in its tracks.