Legal Question in Business Law in California

Ok i am not sure when someone is stealing secrets from an employer. Ok so this is a print shop. the machines they use are no secret. they are in view of the public. any one can see the machines. many are like brother printer or konica minolta. There are some other brands that are less comon because they apply to a certain type of printing. like for large format printing. these are called oce. I mean even the customers have preferences to what type of printer is being used because of quality. so its no secret. now the clientele they have is no secret either. I mean they are engineers. I mean many of the employess wear their shirts with company logo and number. they can be found in the yellow pages. or by simple internet search. some of these clients are actually big companies like kaiser. I of course know what they charge and i know what the competitors charge. i believe i can offer them a better price. would it be illegal for me to look them up online and throw a sell pitch to them? I dont know i mean if i walk into any print shop i can tell what machine they are using if i can see it. i mean when i went to the competitors to ask for work They have their machines in plain sight and they use a machine that is a major competitor to our machines. and while i was there a few contractors walked out with stickers on their vans with their numbers. can i legally look them up online and pitch a sale? As far as the machines I could have easily chosen a different one. some are actually better. but i have skills in the ones my previous employer had. so im choosing to buy one like it. in short there is nothing these companies offer that is unique. they do not offer anything you cant get done at kinkos. the only difference is pricing and expertise. I personally dont see nothing illegal with any of this. then again thats why i am here. I think the secret part is their customer list which i dont have. There are customer who walk in who cant be found in public. like they bring a print job and leave their number. and these i dont know. I am not trying to get a different answer. just some clarification. I never signed a thing if that matters


Asked on 6/17/11, 9:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

I don't see a question here, but I will say that (1) a business lawyer should be able to tell you, after a personal interview of 15 minutes or less, whether your proposed use of information in competitiion with a former employer represents a trade secret misappropriation or not, because most situations are either obviously not a violation or obviously are a violation; and (2) nevertheless, there remains a hazy area where lawyers will argue for days to a judge or jury whether the defendant was or was not entitled to make use of certain information.

Generally, whether use of information is a misappropriation or not has nothing to do with whether you signed an agreement not to do it. If someone refuses to sign an agreement not to commit murder, and then does it, he is just as guilty as someone who signed the agreement before committing the crime. There can be exceptions, such as where the effect of the paperwork is to put you on notice that the employer considers the information in file drawer #3 is considered company secrets.

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Answered on 6/25/11, 4:43 pm


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