Question

Cindy worked for Marquis Management for seven years as a property manager. She quit Marquis Management to open her own competing property management company. Since Cindy had been instrumental in compiling a customer list (a document kept in a locked safe) for Marquis Management during these seven years, Cindy made a copy of the customer list and began using it after she opened her company to get customers. Which of the following best describes Cindy’s actions?

a. Cindy has infringed Marquis Management’s copyright.

b. Cindy has not infringed Marquis Management’s copyright.

c. Cindy has misappropriated Marquis Management’s trade secret.

d. Cindy has not misappropriated Marquis Management’s trade secret.

Answer 1

The answer is option “c” - Cindy has misappropriated Marquis Management’s trade secret.

Explanation: In this case the customer list is Marquis’ trade secret even though it was compiled by Cindy. Cindy had compiled this list as an employee of Marquis Management and hence that list will be the property of Marquis and not Cindy.

In fact the list will be regarded as Marquis’ trade secret as it had an intrinsic value for Marquis and contained confidential information that was used to further its business. Now Cindy’s act of copying this list after starting her own competing property management company will be regarded as misappropriation of Marquis Management’s trade secret because Cindy improperly acquired and copied the contents of this list without the consent of Marquis Management.