Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Vermont

Can I budget for the cost of trade secret litigation?

I am currently pitching a start-up to investors.

I will be competing with a past employer in the market. I understand what their trade secrets are and I will not infringe upon them.

The past employer sees everything they do as a trade secret. They recently went to trial with a competitor that split off from them 10 years ago and lost. The decision was appealed to the supreme court and the court upheld the superior courts decision.

The product, most of the manufacturing technology and markets are well known. All three are in the in the public domain. I am confident that the start-up can successfully defend against the litigation. This will not stop my employer from bring suit to scuttle the start-up.

As a result I am trying to budget monies for litigation.

My investors want to know the following:

1. How much can the firm expect to spend in a litigation brought by my previous employer?

2. What can the firm expect the timing of expenses to be once suit is brought?

3. Are the cost of the previous litigation an indication of what future litigation will cost?

4. How do I estimate the probability of any given cost estimate of litigation?

Any information would be very helpful here. Thank you.

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