Ag Trade Secrets at Risk

Ag Trade Secrets at Risk

Russell Nemetz
Russell Nemetz
In an era of tremendous change in agricultural technology, it's more important than ever that agribusinesses, research universities and farmers protect themselves against the risks of intellectual theft.

Protecting trade secrets was highlighted recently at an agricultural technology and law conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Jennie Nichols, an attorney and special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, pointed to some high-profile situations both in and out of agriculture in which employees, students and others left the country with critical research or were caught trying to do so.

A key point Nichols and others made at the conference is that if you have a special piece of technology or product, you have got to detail just what you are doing to protect such proprietary trade secrets.

"If you are the general counsel for a company or a university, you have to document how you are protecting your proprietary trade secrets," Nichols said.

The theft of trade secrets is getting more traction among federal authorities and in court. But, if a legal battle over a trade secret goes to court, company and university officials are likely going to be asked why a product or research is proprietary. And, if so, then what practices were being done to protect that secret.

"Document how you are protecting your stuff, because this is where it is becoming important, because we have to define how it was a trade secret," Nichols said. "Make sure you document what you have done for your company or university to protect that claim."

A person can get 10 years of federal time for stealing a company trade secret. There are multiple federal violations, including stealing and taking those products across state lines. And, in federal time, a person will serve the vast majority of the sentence before the possibility of parole.

Source: Drovers

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