Trade Secret Attorney Kansas City | Protect Your Competitive Advantage

Your Most Valuable Assets Are the Ones Your Competitors Don’t Know About

Coca-Cola has kept its formula secret for 139 years. Google’s search algorithm generates billions in revenue, and no one knows exactly how it works. Kentucky Fried Chicken’s recipe has survived since 1940 without being revealed.

These companies understand what many businesses overlook: sometimes the most valuable protection isn’t a patent—it’s secrecy.

At IPCenter, our trade secret attorney Kansas City helps businesses identify what information qualifies as a trade secret, implement legal protections to keep it confidential, and take aggressive action when theft or misappropriation occurs.

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What Are Trade Secrets?

A trade secret is confidential business information that gives you a competitive advantage. Unlike patents (which expire after 20 years) or copyrights (which expire after the creator’s lifetime plus 70 years), trade secrets can last indefinitely—as long as you keep them secret.

Common trade secrets include:

• Formulas and recipes: Chemical compositions, food recipes, manufacturing formulas
• Processes and methods: Manufacturing processes, quality control procedures, business methods
• Customer information: Customer lists, pricing strategies, supplier relationships
• Financial data: Cost structures, profit margins, business plans
• Technical information: Source code, algorithms, engineering drawings
• Marketing intelligence: Market research, sales strategies, expansion plans
• Proprietary databases: Compiled information not publicly available

The key requirement: The information must be secret, provide economic value because it’s secret, and you must take reasonable steps to keep it secret.

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Why Trade Secrets Matter More Than You Think

They Don’t Expire

A patent lasts 20 years. After that, anyone can use your invention. A trade secret lasts as long as you keep it secret—potentially forever.

Coca-Cola could have patented its formula in 1886. The patent would have expired in 1906. Instead, they kept it secret, and 139 years later, it’s still protected.

They Cover What Patents Can’t

Many valuable business assets don’t qualify for patent protection:

• Customer lists
• Business strategies
• Negative know-how (what doesn’t work)
• Compilation of publicly available information

Trade secret law protects these.

They Avoid Public Disclosure

Filing a patent requires publicly disclosing your invention. Everyone can read it. Competitors can design around it. Foreign companies can copy it in countries where you don’t have patents.

Trade secrets remain confidential.

They’re Cheaper to Maintain

A patent can cost $15,000-$30,000 to obtain and thousands more in maintenance fees. Trade secret protection costs far less—primarily implementing confidentiality measures and agreements.

Missouri vs. Kansas Trade Secret Law Comparison

Factor	Missouri	Kansas
Statute of Limitations	5 Years (Discovery)	3 Years (Discovery)
Governing Law	MUTSA  (RSMO §417.453)	KUTSA (K.S.A § 60-3321)
Exemplary Damages	Up to 2x (Willful/Malicious) (§417.457)	Up to 2x Willful/Malicious) (K.S.A. §60-3322(b))(fee shifting)
Attorney Fees	✓ Available	✓ Available

Key Difference: Missouri provides 2 additional years to file claims. Both states allow double damages for willful theft.

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Legal Requirements for Trade Secret Protection

Courts will only protect information that qualifies as a trade secret. You must prove three things:

1. The Information Is Not Generally Known

If competitors can easily discover the information through public sources or reverse engineering, it’s not a trade secret.

Example: A restaurant’s menu isn’t a trade secret—anyone can see it. But the recipes, supplier relationships, and food costs are secret.

2. The Information Provides Economic Value Because It’s Secret

The secrecy itself must give you a competitive advantage.

Example: A customer list is valuable because competitors don’t know who your customers are. If you published it, you’d lose business.

3. You Take Reasonable Steps to Maintain Secrecy

This is where many businesses fail. Courts require proof you treated the information as confidential.

Reasonable steps include:

• Confidentiality agreements with employees and contractors
• Physical security (locked files, restricted access areas)
• Digital security (passwords, encryption, access controls)
• Employee training on handling confidential information
• Marking documents as “Confidential”
• Exit interviews reminding departing employees of obligations

Without these measures, courts won’t protect your information—even if it’s valuable and secret.

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Our Trade Secret Protection Services

Creating Legal Protections Before Problems Arise

The time to protect trade secrets is before someone steals them. We help businesses implement comprehensive protection programs:

Confidentiality Agreements

We draft enforceable non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for:

• Employees (including provisions in employment agreements)
• Independent contractors and consultants
• Business partners and joint venture participants
• Potential investors and acquisition parties
• Vendors and suppliers with access to confidential information

The agreement must specifically identify what’s confidential and impose clear obligations. Generic templates often fail in court.

Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Agreements

Missouri and Kansas generally enforce reasonable non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Kansas updated its restrictive-covenant law in 2025; enforceability turns on precise drafting and facts. We can draft agreements which:

• Limit employees from working for competitors for a specified period
• Prohibit solicitation of your customers and employees
• Define reasonable geographic scope and duration

Courts throw out overbroad non-competes. We can draft agreements that protect your interests without overreaching.

Confidentiality Policies and Procedures

We help you implement written policies that:

• Identify what information is confidential
• Establish who has access to different types of information
• Define how confidential information should be stored, transmitted, and destroyed
• Create protocols for departing employee exits
• Train employees on confidentiality obligations

These policies demonstrate to courts that you take secrecy seriously.

Trade Secret Audits

We review your business to identify:

• What information qualifies as trade secrets
• What protections are already in place
• Gaps in your protection program
• Employees with access to sensitive information
• Risks from vendors, partners, and contractors

Many businesses don’t realize what they have until they lose it.

Document Management Systems

We advise on:

• Classification systems for confidential documents
• Access controls and need-to-know protocols
• Secure destruction of outdated confidential materials
• Digital rights management for electronic files

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Enforcement When Trade Secrets Are Stolen

Responding to Theft or Misappropriation

When an employee leaves and takes your customer list, when a competitor somehow obtains your manufacturing process, or when a hacker breaches your systems—you need immediate legal action.

Emergency Injunctions

We obtain temporary restraining orders (TROs) and preliminary injunctions within days, requiring:

• Immediate return of confidential materials
• Cessation of use of trade secrets
• Preservation of evidence
• Prohibitions on further disclosure

Speed matters. Every day of unauthorized use causes more damage and disclosure to more people.

Trade Secret Litigation Under Federal and State Law

We pursue claims under:

• Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA (18 U.S.C. §1836)): Federal law allowing trade secret claims in federal court with nationwide enforcement.
• DTSA Remedies; actual loss, unjust enrichment/reasonable royalty, up to 2× for willful/malicious, attorney fees in limited circumstances; civil seizure in rare cases. 3-year limitations from discovery
• DTSA Whistleblower Notice. To comply with the notice requirement under 18 U.S.C. §1833(b), Agreements should include a statement that employees/contractors may confidentially disclose trade secrets to a government official or attorney solely to report a suspected legal violation. Failure to include this notice can limit an employer’s DTSA remedies.
• Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act (MUTSA) – 5 year statute
• Kansas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (KUTSA) – 3 year statute

These laws allow you to recover:

• Actual damages (your financial losses)
• Unjust enrichment (profits the thief gained)
• Reasonable royalties (what you would have charged for a license)
• Exemplary damages (double damages for willful misappropriation)
• Attorney fees (if misappropriation was willful and malicious)

Computer Fraud Claims

When trade secrets are stolen through hacking or unauthorized computer access, we pursue additional claims under:

• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)*
• State computer crime statutes

These provide additional damages and remedies beyond trade secret law. *CFAA claims may apply where access was unauthorized or credentials were compromised; the Supreme Court has narrowed “exceeds authorized access,” to be case-specific.

Criminal Referrals

Trade secret theft is a federal crime under the Economic Espionage Act. We coordinate with:

• FBI for federal criminal investigations
• Local prosecutors for state criminal charges

Trade Secret Theft Response Timeline

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Common Trade Secret Theft Scenarios

Departing Employees

The most common threat: employees who leave and take information with them.

What we’ve seen:

• Sales representatives taking customer lists to competitors
• Engineers downloading technical drawings before resignation
• Managers copying, marketing and training manuals, business plans and financial data
• IT staff taking source code and databases

Our response:

• Immediate cease and desist demand
• Forensic analysis of company computers and emails
• Emergency motion for TRO preventing use
• Litigation for return of materials and damages

Recent case: A manufacturing company discovered their plant manager downloaded CAD files, customer contracts, and pricing data one week before joining a competitor. After filing suit, a TRO was obtained within 72 hours, recovering all materials, and the competitor terminated the employee. The client recovered $180,000 in damages.

Business Partners and Joint Ventures

Trade secret theft also happens between business partners when relationships sour.

Scenario: You enter a joint venture and share confidential information under an NDA. The relationship ends, but the former partner continues using your information.

We enforce confidentiality agreements and pursue misappropriation claims to stop unauthorized use.

Corporate Espionage and Competitors

Sometimes competitors use illegal means to obtain trade secrets:

• Hiring your employees specifically to obtain information
• Social engineering to trick employees into disclosure
• Cyber intrusions and hacking
• Physical theft (breaking into offices)

These cases often involve both civil and criminal enforcement.

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What Trade Secret Protection Can and Cannot Do

What Protection Gives You

You can stop misappropriation. If someone steals or improperly acquires your trade secrets, courts will issue injunctions stopping their use.

You can recover damages. Financial compensation for losses caused by misappropriation, plus the defendant’s profits and potentially double damages.

Protection lasts indefinitely. As long as information remains secret and you maintain protections, trade secret law applies. No expiration.

You can protect information patents can’t. Business methods, negative research results, customer relationships—things that don’t qualify for patents.

What Protection Cannot Do

It cannot stop independent discovery. If a competitor figures out your secret independently through legitimate means, you have no claim.

It cannot stop reverse engineering. If someone buys your product and figures out how it works through reverse engineering, that’s legal (unless they agreed not to do so).

It cannot protect information that becomes public. Once secret information is publicly disclosed (by you or through legitimate means), protection ends.