Trade Secrets

James Dicks $($Dicks$)$ is the longtime owner of the Lodge at Mount Snow $($Lodge$)$ in Dover, Vermont. Dicks hired Cary and Brenda

Jensen $($the Jensens$)$ to manage and run a bus tour business at the Lodge. During their employment, the Jensens ran most aspects

of the Lodge's business and were responsible for soliciting and organizing the tours. Names of tour group attendees were posted

on a large reservation board publicly available to customers and employees. The customer list was also not locked away and

readily accessible by all employees. Six years after their hiring, the Jensens left to open their own competing establishment. The

Jensens solicited business from the Lodge's regular customers and booked most of their own tours with individuals who cancelled

their reservations at the Lodge and booked with the Jensens. Dicks sued the Jensens claiming that the Jensens violated trade

secret law by misappropriating the Dicks' customer list for their own benefit.

A trade secret is typically information that contains

value.

Research plans, pricing information, marketing methods, production techniques, and development ideas

possible

examples of trade secrets$.$

Questions Navigation Menu

copyright and trademark protection, protection of trade secrets

to both ideas and their

expression.

Does information have to be registered or filed with a government agency in order to receive trade secret protection?

Can a customer list potentially be a trade secret?

Was Dicks' customer list confidential?