There Are Many Ways to Milk a Cow and Not All Are Protected Trade Secrets

A consultant of a company entered into a consulting agreement with a competitor. The scope of his consultancy of the first company involved dairy-permeate processing systems and the second involved lactose-processing systems. The Court of Appeals of Minnesota found that these businesses were sufficiently distinct such that disclosure of information regarding one business would not violate the non-compete agreement prohibiting the disclosure of information regarding the other.  The Court also drew a distinction between confidential information and trade secrets. See RELCO, LLC v. A. Kent Keller, No. A13–1633, 2014 WL 2921895 (Minn. Ct. App. June 30, 2014). 

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