Reference no: EM133198261

Case: Ace Market-to-Market (Ace) is a public relations firm on the East Coast. The company has invested heavily in its extensive client list. It actively restricts access to this information by allowing only designated employees to have passcode access to the client database. Ace encourages its employees to use its company-sponsored social media account on NetWORX to connect with clients. Devon is a public relations manager who has approached you with concerns he has about the company's NetWORX account. Devon knows that former public relation reps stay in contact with the many professionals they have met over the course of their employment with Ace. Some current public relations reps have expanded their social media contacts by making their Ace profiles public. Devon thinks this will mean trouble for Ace in the long run. He asks for guidance about how to better protect the company's client list.

Devon's concerns are understandable. After all, Ace's former employees and business competitors could very well poach Ace's clients because of the lack of confidentiality. As a general rule, if a company has invested in its development and has kept the information confidential, the company's client list is protected under intellectual property law. Ace's situation is unique in that it is not dealing with a traditional Rolodex-based client list. Its client list is a virtual one that is interconnected with social media. To protect its interest, Ace must do the following:

Institute a policy stating that Ace's social media account is proprietary, confidential, and the sole property of the company.
Ensure that employees use Ace's social media account for business purposes only and that they do not intermingle their personal contacts with Ace contacts.

Monitor employee use to ensure that their company-sponsored NetWORX accounts have proper privacy settings and are not widely accessible by the public at large.

Terminate social media access for those individuals who are no longer employed with the company.

Explain the legal protection available to the holder of a trade secret.