Futuretek Trade Secret Theft Case Study: Implications and Analysis

This case study analyzes a scenario involving trade secret theft within the context of Futuretek, a company specializing in high-tech computer chips and software. The case revolves around an employee, Dana, who, upon leaving the company, illegally transferred confidential customer data to gain a competitive advantage for her new business. The assignment explores the legal and ethical implications of intellectual property theft, specifically focusing on the protection of trade secrets and the violation of intellectual property rights. It examines the impact of Dana's actions on Futuretek's competitiveness and highlights the importance of implementing robust data security measures and authorization protocols within organizations. The study emphasizes the need for businesses to safeguard their intellectual property through proper management, access control, and employee awareness to prevent such incidents and maintain their market position.

Running head: TRADE SECRET THEFT STUDY
TRADE SECRET THEFT STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Intellectual property includes the property that consist of intangible creations and comprises
of copyrights, patents and trademarks. This also includes rights regarding trade secrets, moral rights
and rights that ensures that the working is done following the right procedures. There are four types of
intellectual property protection for business this includes trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and
patents. Basically there are two types of assets associated with organizations are physical assets and
intellectual assets. The intangible assets includes intangible assets. This are used for determine the
competitiveness of the organization within the market. This is the responsibility of each organization
to protect the intellectual property of the organization and even he employees need to know the
protection right for intellectual property.
In the given case study the organization Futuretek deals with selling high tech computer chips
and software to the smartphone companies throughout the world. From the case study it can be stated
that Dana the computer programmer has performed illegal function. This is against the intellectual
property right to carry details of company with them. Thus, this is very essential to understand that no
employee is allowed to carry confidential details of the people associated with the organization. The
computer programmer before quitting the job decided to transfer all the data of Futuretek customer
with her, this helped her in gaining more customer for her newly started business. Intellectual property
theft is referred to a situation in which someone else uses intellectual property without permission.
There are several laws that protects the right of intellectual properties. This is an important
fact to ensure that the intellectual properties are being protected as this helps in increasing the
competitiveness. The intellectual property protection includes protection from invention, symbols,
literary and artistic works created by mind. There are four types of IP protection for business, this
includes patents, and trademarks copy rights and trade secret.
The activity performed by Dana was definitely illegal and also she has carried intellectual
property of Futuretreks’s. The reason behind performing such activity was to gain profit for her new
business idea. Dana prepared a plan that will attract more customers as her company was also and will
increase the profit. The intellectual property that was taken by Dana was the information about the
business organization working with Futuretek. Dana moved out with all the information, this helped

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her to plan the business accordingly and also she offered chips with cheaper cost. This helped in
gaining more customer and attracted profits. This is necessary for the organization Futureteks to
understand the condition in the market and plan accordingly.
This is necessary for the organization Futuretek to implement proper management that will
help the organization in providing better future. The organization needs to set authorization for the
documents maintained. They should ensure that only selected members will be able to access the data.
This will ensures that authorization is provided to correct person.

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References
Bettig, R. V. (2018). Copyrighting culture: The political economy of intellectual property. Routledge.
Drahos, P. (2016). A philosophy of intellectual property. Routledge.
Janis, M. D., Hovenkamp, H., Lemley, M. A., Leslie, C., & Carrier, M. A. (2016). IP and antitrust: an
analysis of antitrust principles applied to intellectual property law. Wolters Kluwer
Law & Business.