Chapter 8 Quiz

Which of the following is not one of the reasons why it's better to rely on written, rather than oral, agreements to keep information confidential? a)Courts never enforce such agreements b)The other party may deny that the agreement exists. c)Someone who relies on oral promise of confidentiality is not using "reasonable means" to protect her trade secrets. d)It may be very hard to prove with specifi city the terms of an oral confidentiality agreement.

Courts never enforce such agreements

Ewa is Diamond Financial Planners' most productive employee. She is dissatisfied with the commission structure, however, so she quits to work for Feldstar Investments, Inc. When she leaves Diamond's employ, she takes her list of Diamond's clients so that she can induce them to switch to Feldstar. Trade secrets law covers a)Diamond's list of clients. b)Ewa's performance. c)Feldstar's commission structure. none of the choices. d)No answer text provided.

Diamond's list of clients.

The federal criminal law most relevant to trade secret theft is known as the: a)Stop Espionage Act b)Defend Against Espionage Act c)Trade Secret Espionage Act d)Economic Espionage Act

Economic Espionage Act

A business can simultaneously protect the same information as a patented invention and a trade secret a)True b)False

False

A customer list is not a trade secret. a)True b)False

False

Pricing information is not a trade secret. a)True b)False

False

The Uniform Trade Secret Act is an example of a federal law. a)True b)False

False

The patent term is 20 years. The trade secret term is: a)20 years b)Life of the author plus 70 years c)110 years d)Indefinite/forever

Indefinite/forever

A trade secret a)Is confidential information owned or developed by a business b)Must be novel, nonobvious, and useful c)Both of the above d)one of the above

Is confidential information owned or developed by a business

Which of the following is not something that a plaintiff in trade secret case must generally establish? a)The information in question qualifies as a trade secret b)The information in question could not be patented or copyrighted c)Reasonable measures were taken to protect the information d)Despite these measures, the information was misappropriated

The information in question could not be patented or copyrighted

In cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets, the claim of inevitable disclosure is used when the a)trade secret is eventually made public b)former employee had access to inside information and trade secrets c)former employee sells trade secret information to a new employer d)all of the above

former employee had access to inside information and trade secrets

Injunctive relief means a temporary or permanent court order that the other party stop doing something (for example, using the trade secrets). a)True b)False

True

More than one company can have the same trade secret technology. a)True b)False

True

Some information that is not or cannot be protected under trademark, patent, or copyright law could be protected under the law of trade secrets. a)True b)False

True

Virtually any information that provides economic value to a business can potentially be protected as a trade secret. a)True b)False

True

Whether any particular information is or is not a trade secret is always a factual inquiry. a)True b)False

True

In IBM Corp. v. Papermaster, did the court find it likely that Papermaster would inevitably inadvertently disclose IBM trade secrets to Apple? a)No, because he would not be forced to make decisions about what type of microprocessor technology to use in Apple products. b)No, because Papermaster had another base of technical know-how to draw upon to perform his new job. c)Yes, because the court believes that Papermaster will intentionally disclose IBM trade secrets to Apple. d)Yes, because the court found that it inconceivable that Papermaster wouldn't draw upon IBM-developed trade secrets relating to microprocessor technology.

Yes, because the court found that it inconceivable that Papermaster wouldn't draw upon IBM-developed trade secrets relating to microprocessor technology.

Which of the following is one of the elements that trade secret laws have in common? a)valuable because not generally known b)not readily ascertainable c)subject to reasonable measures to maintain secrecy d)all of the above

all of the above

Caramello Chip & Cookie Corporation (4C) obtains, and gives its employees, a list of the customers of Sugar & Spice Sales, Inc. (3S). Under the law that applies to trade secrets, 4C's conduct is actionable provided a)consumers are confused. b)4C's conduct is intentional. c)4C uses the list. d)4C does not have 3S's permission to use the list.

4C does not have 3S's permission to use the list.

A marketing technique can be a trade secret. a)True b)False

True