If you’re a business owner, your trade secrets are the heart and soul of your success. Whether it’s the recipe for the secret sauce you top your burgers with or the winning sales pitch and pricing structure that beats your competition every time, it’s important to take action to make sure what’s proprietary stays that way. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by petitioning for a Temporary Restraining Order, or TRO, when you become aware of the disclosure or misuse of your trade secrets. This legal process is invaluable if instituted swiftly and correctly.

As a legal tool, once a TRO has been granted it provides you with immediate protection, stopping the former employee or competitor who has threatened your business’ profits from using your trade secrets. Though this does not compensate for any damage that has already been done, it prevents things from getting worse and allows the legal process to continue so that a resolution can be reached.

A temporary restraining order does more than simply stop trade secrets from being used or shared. It also preserves evidence of the appropriation of those secrets, whether that evidence is in the form of physical or electronic documents, advertising or sales material, products that have been created from your proprietary information, or anything else to support your claim of infringement.

Filing for a temporary restraining order is a process that requires strong legal knowledge. There is no guarantee that a judge will grant a request for a TRO: It is incumbent upon the party filing the request to prove that they will suffer immediate and irreparable harm if it is not issued. This may take the form of significant financial losses, damage to competitive advantage, or harm to reputation. If granted, however, the TRO will quickly accomplish the goal of keeping proprietary or sensitive information from being disseminated to competitors or other third parties that could benefit from your internal information.

Temporary Restraining Orders are most frequently issued to reinforce the terms of non-disclosure agreements issued to employees or contractors. They are the best way to compel the other party to comply with its terms, while also sending a clear message to anybody else that may have your trade secrets that you will take action when your business is threatened. Once a TRO has been issued, its protections are only temporary, but it lays the groundwork for a preliminary injunction and other legal action that has a more permanent impact.

For assistance in filing for a temporary restraining order for your business, contact us today to set up a time for us to meet.