Don’t Steal Your Former Employer’s Customers (Unless You’re Confident…)
July 5th, 2010
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Many people know that, when one leaves a job in California, the former employer typically cannot stop the former employee from working for a competitor. However, some people mistakenly believe that the right to compete includes the right to steal the former employer’s customers!
According to Civil Code Section 3426.1(d), a trade secret is “information…that [d]erives independent economic value…from not being generally known to the public…and [i]s the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.” For many employers, a customer list is an important trade secret.
Categories: Employment, Intellectual Property
Dana Shultz is a business-savvy lawyer located in Northern California's San Francisco Bay Area (in the East Bay, near Oakland) who has in-depth knowledge of law, business, technology, and the needs of startup and early-stage companies.