1. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
(PROTECTED BY AN NDA) IS
LEAKED?

2. WHAT IS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION?
 Except as otherwise provided in the
Agreement, Confidential Information refers to
in-form-a-tion that
 is maintained in confidence by or on behalf of a party,
referred to as a Disclosing Party; and
 (ii) disclosed to other otherwise accessed, pursuant to
the Agreement by another party, referred to as
a Receiving Party.

3. WHAT TO DO IF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTED
BY AN NDA IS LEAKED?
 CONTACT AN ATTORNEY
 Unfortunately, enforcing an NDA usually
requires hiring an attorney and filing
a lawsuit, an unpleasant and expensive
proposition. An experienced attorney can
minimize your risks, preserve your trade secret
rights and provide a realistic perspective of your
chances in the dispute.

4.  ACQUIRE EVIDENCE
 Whenever trade secrets are lost you will need to investigate,
or hire an investigator, to learn as much as possible about
the trade secrecy loss. These investigations commonly
require surveillance of employees. Investigation of the theft is
crucial. Also, if you make public statements that contain
improvable accusations of trade secret theft and you injure
that person's reputation, you may be liable for defamation.
When gathering evidence, you will need information about:
 The means of misappropriation
 Use of the trade secret.
 Who is involved in the chain of misappropriation?

5.  DETERMINE WHAT LEGAL CLAIMS TO MAKE
 One legal claim you'll make is that the person has
committed breach of contract. In addition, you and your
attorney must determine whether you have other grounds
on which to sue the perpetrators. Each one you come up
with may provide you with a separate remedy and separate
damages. Here are some possibilities:
 Misappropriation of trade secrets.
 Breach of fiduciary duty.
 Copyright infringement.
 Conversion.
 Patent infringement.
 Trespass.

6.  Criminal prosecution: Several states and the governments
have passed laws that make the unauthorized disclosure, theft
or use of a trade secret a crime. Under these laws the
government, not private businesses, arrests the perpetrators
and brings criminal charges
 DETERMINE WHAT YOU LOST AND WHAT YOU WANT
 Potential remedies can be used as leverage to end the dispute
before a lawsuit is filed. Potential remedies include:
 INJUNCTIONS
 An injunction is a court order directed at those who have stolen your
secrets. Asking for an injunction is common, since the primary goal of an
NDA is to keep information secret.

7.  COMPENSATORY AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES
 If you suffer a financial loss as a result of a breach of an
NDA, you may be able to get a court to award money
damages to you. Your damages are measured by either:
 the profits a competitor earned by using the trade secret, or
 the profits you lost due to the improper trade secret leak.
 If the person or company you're suing acted with spite or ill
will or a disregard for the probable injury, courts in many
states can impose punitive damages. These are damages
awarded to you for the purpose of punishing the wrongdoer
and providing an example to other would-be trade secret
thieves.