Trade Secret Litigation in North Carolina: Say Nothing or Too Much?

In late December, 2004 the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a decision of great interest to North Carolina attorneys and those they represent in a case called Visionair, Inc. v. James and Colossus Incorporated.
http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/coa/opinions/2004/031453-1.htm

One of the interesting holdings of the decision was that the former employer, VisionAIR, had not identified with enough specificity its "trade secrets" it claimed its former employee, James, had misappropriated AND the consequence of that failure to identify their trade secrets with specificity resulted in VisionAIR's failure obtain any protection from the court and against James - the alleged misappropriator.

SO, how specific does a company suing to protect its trade secrets have to be in its complaint? And how does that same company ensure that they do not waive trade secret legal protections - in making the formerly private matter public - while they are pleading their complaint with specificity? We'll give you our thoughts on these matters in the weeks to come . . . .