Protecting Investments In People And IP While Avoiding Criminal Sanctions

"Employees leaving an organization might be replaced physically, however, their skill-sets and knowledge cannot be exactly replaced by the person replacing them... the skill of employees, account for 85% of a company's assets."²

"[W]e are going to aggressively protect our intellectual property. Our single greatest asset is the innovation and the ingenuity and creativity of the American people. It is essential to our prosperity and it will only become more so in this century."³

"Half of employees who left or lost their jobs in the last 12 months kept confidential corporate data, according to a global survey... 40% plan to use it in their new jobs."⁴

A company's intellectual property and employees are indisputably among its most important assets. Ironically, there is an inner tension between them because they also pose grave threats to each other. This article will examine recent initiatives by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division to