Spilling Secrets: An IPTalons’ Commentary on Trade Secret Theft from a Major Beverage Developer.
The U.S. Justice Department released a statement last week concerning a guilty plea for the theft of trade secrets by Andrew Blum, a New Jersey resident and former vice president of product development at an unnamed oil product and proprietary flavors company. Blum admitted to stealing the company’s trade secrets and planned to use the proprietary information to leverage a job position at a competing company. According to the evidence, Blum used a personal email account to forward the files containing the trade secret information. Philip Sellinger, the U.S. attorney in charge of the case, stated, “A company’s intellectual property – its proprietary materials and trade secrets – have enormous value to the companies that develop them, sometimes constituting their most valuable assets.” The statement highlights the value and importance of ensuring a company has the necessary experts and tools available to protect the company’s trade secrets and intellectual property.
The theft of the trade secrets had already occurred and was dangerously close to causing devastating consequences for the unnamed company. The key to trade secret and intellectual property protection is having a proactive approach utilizing a dedicated team of experts with the right tools to prevent trade secret theft before it occurs. A serious and competent security team should have access to real-time intelligence, prioritized according to risk, while ensuring the company’s policy framework and employee training requirements reflect the current risk landscape and serve the best interest of the company and employees.
