BUS 204 Ch. 8 Case Study Analysis: Trade Secrets Questions and Answers 2023

BUS 204 Ch. 8 Case Study Analysis: Trade Secrets Questions and Answers 2023 Hector Dalton (Dalton) is the longtime owner of the Lodge at Mount Snow (Lodge) in Dover, Vermont. Dalton hired Kerry and Belinda Jarvinen (the Jarvinens) to manage and run a bus tour business at the Lodge. During their employment, the Jarvinens ran most aspects of the Lodge's business and were responsible for soliciting and organizing the tours. Names of tour group attendees were posted on a large reservation board publicly available to customers and employees. The customer list was also not locked away and readily accessible by all employees. Six years after their hiring, the Jarvinens left to open their own competing establishment. The Jarvinens solicited business from the Lodge's regular customers and booked most of their own tours with individuals who cancelled their reservations at the Lodge and booked with the Jarvinens. Dalton sued the Jarvinens claiming that the Jarvinens violated trade secret law by misappropriating Dalton's customer list for their own benefit. ... A trade secret is typically information that contains ________ value. commercial Research plans, pricing information, marketing methods, production techniques, and development ideas _____ possible examples of trade secrets. are ________ copyright and trademark protection, protection of trade secrets ________ to both ideas and their expression. Unlike, extends Information __________ have to be registered or filed with a government agency in order to receive trade secret protection. does not A customer list ________ potentially be a trade secret. can Dalton's customer list ________ confidential and ______ openly available to employees. was not, was Dalton ________ names of the tour group customers openly available to other customers and the public. had The Jarvinens ________ break into Dalton's computer or lockbox in order to obtain the customer list. did not As a result, Dalton's customer list likely __________ a secret discovered by improper means. was not The use of Dalton's customer list by the Jarvinens likely ________ constitute a breach of duty owed to the other party. does not Therefore, the Jarvinens are probably ____________ to Dalton for violation of trade secret law. not liable WHAT IF THE FACTS WERE DIFFERENT?... ... Assume that Dalton had the Jarvinens sign a confidentiality agreement regarding his customer list, secured the list with password protection, and limited its access to only key employees. The Jarvinens broke into Dalton's computer, took the customer list, and used the list to solicit customers for their new business. ... In this case, the Jarvinens ________ discover the secret by improper means. did Dalton ________ make reasonable efforts to keep his customer list secret. did If Dalton sued the Jarvinens for violation of trade secret law, Dalton would likely be __________. successful