Theft of trade secrets
Name(s):
Infringement of proprietary information
Background
Commercial property can include: unpatented inventions, processes and technologies; marketing, pricing, promotion, and distribution data; strategic plans; and internal corporate financial statements. All of these need to be kept secret to avoid offering competitors, domestic or foreign, unintentional help.
Incidence
In the USA a growing number of States impose criminal liabilities on thefts of industrial secrets, in addition to the practice of awarding civil damages to plaintiffs whose proven proprietary trade secrets are lost through breach of employee confidentiality. Incidences include Japanese and Russian industrial espionage, in addition to the domestic variety endemic in some industries such as toys, fashion and other consumer goods, and in the high technology and computer related sectors.
Broader
Aggravated by
Strategy(ies)
Type
(D) Detailed problems