If you discover that a former business partner took confidential product or manufacturing information, you may worry that the person will use it to compete with you or share it with someone else. That risk can affect products or plans you spent years developing.
Ohio law lets you ask a court for an injunction when the information qualifies as a trade secret and your former partner has misappropriated it or threatens to do so. An injunction is a court order that stops or limits certain conduct. To seek one, you have to show both trade-secret status and actual or threatened misuse.
What qualifies as a trade secret?
A trade secret is business information that has value when others do not generally know it and you take reasonable steps to keep it private. Under Ohio law, the information also has to get value from staying secret and not be easy for others to obtain through proper means.
You also have to take reasonable steps to keep the information secret. You may limit access or use confidentiality terms to show those efforts. Simply labeling material as confidential does not make it a trade secret.
When a court may stop the misuse
If your former partner acquires a trade secret through improper means, Ohio treats that conduct as misappropriation. The law also covers certain uses or disclosures when your former partner knew, or had reason to know, that a duty required keeping the information secret.
If your former partner threatens to use or share the trade secret, you may seek an injunction before any disclosure occurs. The court then decides whether the evidence supports an order and how broad that order should be.
Preserving what supports your claim
Your trade-secret claim often turns on proof of what you kept secret and how your former partner obtained or used it. You may want to identify the exact material and gather records showing how you limited access. It could also help to preserve messages and access records tied to the suspected misuse as you prepare for a business dispute.