When an employee resigns and goes to work for a competitor, that employee may be in a position to exploit the employer’s valuable trade secrets.1 Employers often are understandably concerned that the departing employee will use or disclose such trade secrets and thereby harm the employer’s business interests. To prevent such harm, employers may seek emergency relief from the courts, usually in the form of a preliminary injunction ordering the former employee to refrain from working for the competitor for some prescribed period of time. To succeed in obtaining such relief, the employer must demonstrate, among other elements of proof, an ongoing or imminent threat of irreparable harm.
In recent years, New York courts have shown a willingness to grant preliminary injunctions even where the employer presents no evidence of actual or intended disclosure of trade secrets, but where there is evidence that the employee will “inevitably” disclose the trade secrets in his new employment. In this way, the so-called inevitable disclosure doctrine can fill an evidentiary void, allowing an employer to make a critical showing without providing particularized evidence of mis-conduct.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
