Whyte

The doctrine of inevitable disclosure permits a trade secret owner to prevent a former employee from working for a competitor despite the owner’s failure to prove the employee has taken or threatens to use trade secrets. Under that doctrine, the employee may be enjoined by demonstrating the employee’s new job duties will inevitably cause the employee to rely upon knowledge of the former employer’s trade secrets. No published California decision has accepted or rejected the inevitable disclosure doctrine.

In this opinion, we reject the inevitable disclosure doctrine. We hold this doctrine is contrary to California law and policy because it creates an after-the-fact covenant not to compete restricting employee mobility.

This holding leads us to affirm the trial court’s order denying the application of Schlage Lock Company (Schlage) for a preliminary injunction and granting the motion of J. Douglas Whyte (Whyte) and Kwikset Corporation (Kwikset) to dissolve a temporary restraining order. We reach the issue of inevitable disclosure because we conclude certain information Schlage seeks to protect does constitute trade secret, but the evidence presented below, viewed (as it…