West Palm Beach, Fla. - Carlton Fields Shareholder Tom Dye recently co-authored an article entitled, "Trade Secrets: Civil or Criminal Enforcement of Trade Secret Misappropriation" in Bloomberg Law Reports' Corporate Counsel (September 12, 2011; Vol 2 No 9).

Dye shared that trade secrets include any information that is not generally known that has independent economic value and is the subject of reasonable efforts to keep it secret. Trade secrets might include formulas for soft drinks, next year’s marketing plan, software code, ideas for a future product, or customer lists.

Dye said that when companies believe their trade secrets have been misappropriated, they have the option of pursuing the wrongdoers through criminal or civil claims, but that companies must know that there are federal and state statutes that apply.

The article addresses the advantages to both civil and criminal trade secret enforcement.

"Civil enforcement will generally provide more litigation control and speed than criminal enforcement in trade secret cases where national interests are not implicated and international violators are not involved. This is especially true in the common litigation scenario between an owner and its employees. If litigation costs prohibit an owner from bringing suit, criminal prosecution may likely be the only option."

READ: "Trade Secrets: Civil or Criminal Enforcement of Trade Secret Misappropriation"