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You're a business owner. You've come up with some great ideas. Some knowledge, some know
how, something that's given you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. What do you
do to protect your knowledge and your know how? My name is Ken Johnson. I'm a lawyer
here at Fleming, Nolen & Jez. It begins with you protecting the information. Knowledge
and know how, under the law, are known as proprietary information and trade secrets.
Both of those things have value. Now, what makes something protectable under the law?
For something to be proprietary or to be a trade secret, it must be somewhat unique.
Secondly, it must be generally unknown to the public. And third, it must provide a competitive
advantage to you the business owner. If you have those 3 things, whether it relates to
a product, a process or any number of other things, then there's a good chance that what
you know and what you know how to do can be protected. Some specific examples of knowledge
and know how would include your business methods, it would include formulas and content of products
or services, it would include customer information, marketing information, pricing, supplier and
vendor lists, computer programs, technical drawings, product designs, manufacturing processes.
Those are just some of the examples of areas of business that can be protected as trade
secrets or as proprietary information. So why is this important? Well again, you've
built your business or knowledge and know how. Don't let it walk out the door with a
former employee. Don't let a competitor take it away from you. Protect yourself on the
front end. But if you're in the middle of a problem or need some help figuring out ways
to protect your knowledge and know how, give us a call at Fleming, Nolen & Jez. Thank you
for watching. My name is Ken Johnson. Give us a call if we can help you in any way.