What Business Information is Confidential and Protected?
What business information of a company is confidential and protected? This is the first question to ask in lawsuits alleging unfair competition, breach of a non-compete agreement, or suits against a competitor (particularly a former employee) for using the company's information. Tennessee law has largely equated protected, confidential information with trade secrets. (Take a look at Venture Exp., Inc. v. Zilly for example).
The appellate courts have set out six nonexclusive factors that should give you some guidance:
- 1) the extent to which information is known outside of business,
- 2) the extent to which it is known by employees of business,
- 3) the extent of measures taken to guard the secrecy of the information,
- 4) the value of the information to the business and its competitors,
- 5) the amount of money or effort expended in developing the information, and
- 6) the ease or difficulty with which the information could be properly acquired or duplicated by others.
Look to B&L Corp. v. Thomas & Thorngren, Inc. for a good primer in any case alleging use of confidential business information.