Pricing Strategies as Trade Secrets (PACER Req'd)

In DoubleClick, Inc. v. Paiken, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado had an opportunity to determine what information shared with a former employee constituted trade secrets. Under Colorado's restrictive regime for enforcement of covenants not to compete, one of the few exceptions to voiding a covenant occurs when the covenant is for the protection of trade secrets. Thus, the only way for DoubleClick to enforce its covenant was to show that the defendant had been made privy to trade secrets.

The company argued that the former employee had learned of two types of trade secrets: pricing strategies and DoubleClick's "one-stop shopping" program. The court found such information was sufficient to constitute trade secrets.