Business Torts and Intellectual Property

Business Torts and Intellectual Property
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Business Torts and Intellectual Property
The term intellectual property can be termed as a creation of human mind. It is always intangible though it can be classified as a form of artwork or literature. It has many types which include, design rights, trade secrets and patents and are fundamental to a company since they provide competitiveness. Regarding the business thought we would have a discussion basing on the question which is given below.
“Sam is an employee of ABC Paper Corp. He signed a non-disclosure agreement as a condition of his employment with ABC. Sam is approached by XYZ Paper Co. with an offer of employment, but only if he brings his client list with him. Sam was fully responsible for creating his client list, so he agrees to provide it to XYZ. When Sam downloads his client list onto an external flash drive, he is caught in the act by his boss Natalie. Sam grabs the flash drive and runs out of his office, shoving Natalie aside when she attempts to stop him. Natalie falls and hits her head on the doorknob, suffering a concussion.”
Identify if there is intellectual property at issue here. If so, what type?
Trade secrets are the most valuable asset in any business across the world. Always a trade secret is composed of any information that makes a company have competitive a competitive edge compared to other companies which are competing together, such as the list of clients which we have been given in our question above.

In our case, Sam who was the employee in ABC Paper Co has broken the trade secret law by obtaining the list of clients so that he can take them to his new company XYZ Paper Co as his security to gain employment. Though Sam develops the list, it is still the intellectual property of ABC Paper Corp because it gives the company a competitive advantage and he signed the non-disclosure agreement.
One of the conditions of employment to ABC Paper Co company Sam signed that he will not disclose any information of the company to a third party which bind him and that he will not disclose any intellectual property of the company at all times, client list being one of them. Following world intellectual property organization, Sam violated misappropriation of trade secrets of a company.
Discuss if Sam’s actions are ethical. Why or why not?
When it comes to this case of Sam, it was unethical. By stealing trade secrets from the company he used to work for, and harming his boss has she tried to confiscate the client list which he had obtained illegally he is unethical as per the standards of the society. He has made the decision knowingly and willfully to steal the secrets of ABC Paper Co in exchange for being employed at XYZ Paper Co company which is a proof that he broke the law by committing this act
In this case, Sam committed two kinds of torts, battery, and breach of contract. When it comes to breach of contract, Sam acted unethically when he failed to act in line with the non-disclosure agreements. He availed the client’s list to a competing company XYZ Paper Co. Because Sam signed the non-disclosure agreement. It placed him in a position that he will not disclose any trade secrets information of ABC Paper Co. This deal he breached when he tried to release confidential data to a new company so that he can be employed. For this breach of contract, he can be held accountable and charged in a court of law for this
To add Sam committed another tort that OF battery, in addition to breaking the terms and condition from his first company ABC Paper Co. When he was discovered by his boss Natalie that he was downloading confidential information to his flash drive, he realized that he had been found. He grabbed his flash drive and tried to flee with it out of the office. When his boss Natalie tried to confront him, he pushed her and fell to the ground and suffered a concussion. This behavior which Sam did falls under the tort of battery, or act of being internationally offensive when confronted legitimately in a company which you are not already part of. While this tort of battery is classed under the civilian laws, it also punishable in every state (Merges et al. 2003). This in short means that Sam can answer to charges of battery in a court of law if his boss Natalie will sue him. This case is also criminal, and he can be held to account to answer charges in a criminal court and be jailed for the same.
To add to Sam torts his new company which had offered him employment also committed causation. In criminal law term terms, causation is defined as actus reus, this is the action which led to the boss of ABC Paper Co, Natalie being injured, and the trade secrets being stolen by breaking the non-disclosure agreements. For our case, XYZ Paper Co. committed causation by trying to use employees from a competing company to break the law FOR gain confidential information in exchange for employment.
Conclusion
In any company around the world, intellectual rights such as trade secrets provide a great value to any business around the world giving them a competitive advantage in the market compared to other competing companies around the world. When it comes to our case, Sam breached the non-disclosure agreement by trying to steal the client’s list. This shows that in this case there is great importance put on the clients list, which makes it to be set in such high-level security at ABC Paper Co. Leak of this clients list will make the company loss its competitive edge and would likely loss it competitiveness to XYZ Paper Co. In addition to this secrets stole being unethical it is also against trade laws. Because Sam broke this law, he can be held accountable for this. XYZ Paper Co. should be held responsible for causation because of what Sam did. Sam should also be held responsible in a criminal court of law for injuring his boss Natalie when he was trying to steal trade secrets to aid a competing company. Sam violated the non-disclosure agreement at his previous company ABC Paper Co
. When he seized the client’s list and tried to offer the same to his new company to gain gainful employment. For this case, we learn that it is essential to keep trade secrets which make the company more competitive in the market compared to other competing companies, in our case the companies which have been stated in the question given.

References
Merges, R. P., Menell, P. S., & Lemley, M. A. (2003). Intellectual property in the new technological age (Vol. 118). New York: Aspen Publishers.