The Importance of Protecting the Confidentiality of Commercial Products
The court decisions in this area depend on the circumstances of individual cases. Generally, employees are denied access to a new job if it is established that is likely to bring with him information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable by competitors in the industry. Confidential information must be distinguished from ordinary skills and knowledge that the employee has acquired in his former job and we can not prevent use. The case PepsiCo Inc.. v. Redmond illustrates the application of theory to prevent an employee from working for a competitor. PepsiCo has requested an injunction to be issued against its former employee Redmond to prevent him from working for Quaker Oats Co., which was a direct competitor of PepsiCo Inc.. at the time. PepsiCo has been successful because, given the position offered by Quaker, Redmond would inevitably disclose trade secrets and confidential information of PepsiCo. The court also banned in Redmond finally disclose the secret business of PepsiCo