Smith Anderson Leads Discussion on Safeguarding Business Innovation and Information

Raleigh, N.C. - On October 17, 2013, Smith Anderson Partners Zeb Anderson, Susan Hargrove and Travis Hockaday visited Vaco, an executive placement and consulting firm, to present a seminar on Protecting Proprietary Business Assets: Strategies to Safeguard Your Company. The seminar and discussion that followed was moderated by Christopher Smith, the head of Smith Anderson’s Business Competition group, which focuses on safeguarding a business’s innovation and information.

More than 50 senior financial officers from companies in the Research Triangle Region attended the seminar which included presentations on the following topics:

• “Protecting Social Media Accounts and Contacts,” presented by Travis Hockaday, addressed questions surrounding the ownership and protection of an organization’s social media accounts and contacts, as well as emerging legal issues regarding the interplay between social media and non-solicitation obligations of departing employees.
• “Keys to Safeguarding Trade Secrets and Confidential Information,” presented by Susan Hargrove, gave the audience real world scenarios of non-compete and trade secret dilemmas and armed them with strategies for recognizing and resolving issues.
• “Non-Compete Agreements: What to Protect and How to Protect it,” presented by Zeb Anderson, addressed the most essential elements that should be included in non-compete agreements and information about the laws that help frame them.

About Smith Anderson’s Business Competition Practice Group

Smith Anderson’s Business Competition group is comprised of three practice areas, including Non-Competes and Trade Secrets; Data Use, Privacy and Security; and Intellectual Property, with a shared focus on safeguarding a business’s innovation and information.  Smith Anderson assists new, emerging and mature businesses with protecting their competitive advantage by drafting, reviewing and revising core agreements; as well as developing, protecting and promoting their knowledge, discoveries and innovations.