Can you believe it? Customer lists are not proprietary

Recently we've been wondering what the legal issues are regarding salespeople who leave with a customer or price list. Seems that a recent legal decision in Illinois says it isn't a problem unless the information was specifically protected or communicated as confidential. Just being in a proprietary server, for example, is not enough. Here's a good summary:

Deal Attorney Blog: Password Protected Online Customer Lists Not Trade Secrets:

'In the case of Liebert Corp. v. Mazur, the Illinois Court of Appeals has held that customer lists stored online in password protected directories were not entitled to trade secret protection where employer did not adequately make employees aware of the lists' confidential nature...

The court held that '[r]estricting access to sensitive information by assigning employees passwords on a need-to-know basis is a step in the right direction.' This precaution in and of itself, however was not enough. The court was 'troubled by the failure to either require employees to sign confidentiality agreements, advise employees that its records were confidential, or label the information as confidential.'