By their nature, most tech companies possess confidential
information or trade secrets. These trade secrets may be your
company's very livelihood, or they may be a key component in
your business model. For that reason, another restrictive covenant
that you will likely want to include in your employment agreements
is a non-disclosure, or confidentiality, provision.
Non-disclosure provisions protect your business from the
disclosure of certain valuable information, such as trade secrets,
after your employee leaves. For example, you may permit certain
employees access to information about your secret invention,
method, design, idea, or formula – the disclosure of which to
your competitors would seriously harm your business and its
profitability. In addition, some courts have even recognized client
lists or other data compilations as a protectible interest,
depending on how they were generated and maintained.
