Few employees realize that when they take their employers' trade secrets with them prior to leaving their job they may be exposing themselves to criminal liability under the Economic Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to steal trade secrets when (1) the information relates to a product in interstate or foreign commerce (which is virtually any product now days) or (2) the intended beneficiary is a foreign power.
A lot of times a company rushes to court asking the judge to stop a former employee or his new employer from using the company's confidential information or soliciting its customers based on the agreements that the former employee had signed with the company.
