Customer lists is an area of trade secret law that is often heavily litigated.  In order for a customer list to qualify as a trade secret it must contain information that provides a business with a “substantial business advantage” where the disclosure of that information would allow a competitor to direct sales to those customers who have already shown a willingness to use a unique type of service or product as opposed to a list of people who only might be interested.

In a often cited California case involving a roofing company whose sales manager quit and formed a competing business the court found the customer list was a trade secret.  The court’s conclusion that plaintiff’s customer list satisfied the statutory definition of “trade secret” was proper, based on the court’s findings that plaintiff provided a relatively unusual roofing service, that the list was a compilation, developed over the years, of names, addresses, and contact persons, that the identity of those particular buildings using services such as plaintiff’s was not generally known in the industry, and that plaintiff had made reasonable efforts to maintain the secrecy of its customers’ identities.

It often boils down to the amount of effort it has taken to weed out customers who are inclined to buy your goods or use your services.  If the names are readily available or little effort is involved in obtaining the customers, the chance is the customer list is not a trade secret.

Located in Los Angeles, California, Robert G. Klein, Esq. is a Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney who concentrates on business litigation. He emphasizes on trademark infringement, unfair competition and trade secret litigation. Los Angeles trademark infringement lawyer Robert G. Klein has acted as lead counsel in approximately 60 trials. He has successfully obtained many multi-million dollar jury verdicts. Many of Mr. Klein’s court decisions have been published as case authority and he has appeared before the United States Supreme Court for oral argument. Mr. Klein has also published “Consumer List: Trade Secret or Fair Game?”, which is an article published in the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney Robert G. Klein can be reached at (213) 996-8508 or visit our web site at http://www.kleinlitigation.com