Successful business is difficult when a company has contradictions with employees and business partners due to the disclosure of important information for the company. You can protect the interests of the company using the trade secret mode. In this case, civil contracts are concluded with employees and business partners: agreements on non-disclosure of trade secrets. In addition to such agreements, resident companies of the Hi-Tech Park may enter into non-competition agreements with employees. Disputes in the areas of trade secret protection and non-competition usually arise with employees who have violated the terms of these agreements. Disputes about the disclosure of trade secrets may arise between a company and business partners. Our lawyers help clients resolve disputes in the field of protecting such protected information and always find the best ways to resolve disputes in the interests of the client.
The main terms of the trade secret agreement
1. Trade Secret agreement with employees
The main terms of the trade secret agreement that the company enters into with an employee:
- Confidential information.
- The procedure for the employee’s access to such information.
- The rights and obligations of the company and the employee related to trade secrets.
- The period during which the employee must keep the information. This period may be longer than the duration of the contract that is concluded with the employee.
- Conditions for the employer company that it organizes notification of an employee about a change or cancellation of a trade secret.
These basic conditions can be supplemented with conditions on the duration of the agreement and on the responsibility of the employee for violating the obligation of non-disclosure.
2. Trade Secret agreement with business partners
Such an agreement is concluded with business partners when they gain access to the company’s trade secrets after they have concluded the main agreement. Under such an agreement, the parties must ensure the confidentiality of trade secrets. The agreement can be concluded before or during the validity of the main agreement. The main terms of the agreement:
- A list of information that relates to a trade secret.
- Circumstances where a business partner may use this information.
- The period of time during which the business partner must keep the information transmitted to him secret, including after the termination of the main agreement.
We recommend you to include in the trade secret agreement a condition on how the business partner ensures the confidentiality of information.
Disputes in the field of trade secret protection
1. Disputes with employees, including former ones
An employee who has signed a trade secret agreement and violated the terms of the agreement, the employer company can recover damages in court. Before that, you need to offer the employee to reimburse the damage voluntarily. This can be done when the employee has not been fired yet. If the employee refuses to compensate for the damage, the employer decides whether to recover the damage in court.
In addition, in court, an employee, even a former one, can be charged damages, including lost profits, which he caused to the company by his illegal actions. When a penalty is provided for in the trade secret agreement, it can also be collected.
Disputes with employees, including former ones, are considered by the civil court. Before the case is considered, the state fee must be paid as a percentage of the amount that is collected in court.
2. Disputes with business partners
A business partner who has violated a trade secret agreement can be sued for damages, including lost profits. When there are conditions for a penalty in the agreement, it can also be collected. When a trade secret dispute has arisen between companies, individual entrepreneurs, then before going to court, the owner of the trade secret needs to send a claim to his business partner. Disputes with business partners are considered by the economic court.
Non-competition agreement
Non—competition agreements are concluded by Hi-Tech Park resident employers with employees who have high professional competencies and value in the labor market. Employers decide for themselves whether to enter into such agreements with employees or not.
According to such an agreement, the employee:
- must not work for hire or under a civil contract with competitors of the employer during the period specified in the agreement;
- undertakes not to open his own business in the same field;
- undertakes not to participate in the management of the employer’s competitor companies.
The main terms and features of the non-competition agreement
The non-competition agreement defines:
- the territory in which the employee must fulfill his obligations listed above;
- the type of activity for which an employee commits to non-competition;
- responsibility for violation of the agreement.
The non-competition agreement may be valid for up to one year after the employee is dismissed from the company. In this case, the company must pay at least 1/3 of the average monthly salary to the former employee for each month after dismissal. This amount is calculated from the employee’s salary for the last year of work in the company.
Disputes in the field of non-competition
Disputes with employees, including former ones, who are not related to running a business, are considered by the civil court. A company that believes that its interests have suffered in connection with a violation of the non-competition agreement may recover damages, in particular, in the form of compensation paid to a former employee after dismissal and a penalty provided for in the non-competition agreement. The court does not reduce the amount of such a penalty. Before going to court, you need to pay a state fee as a percentage of the amount that is being collected.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the protection of commercial secrets and non-competition – we will be happy to help you! Our long-term experience in the field of commercial secrets and non-competition will help you in resolving any disputes in this area.
Phone and email communication options are available for your convenience:
- +375293664477 (WhatsApp/Telegram/Viber);
- info@ambylegal.by.
