Startup IP & Trade Secret Misappropriation Intake Dossier

Statutory Trade Secret Viability Matrix

DTSA / FUTSA Standards

68

Counsel Readiness Score: Conditional Viability

Critical evidentiary gap detected: unrecovered credentials impact chain-of-custody.

1. Independent Economic Value Met

Proprietary competitive advantage derived from not being generally known or readily ascertainable. Actual/potential commercial value supported by development cost or licensing models (no wild figures).

2. Reasonable Secrecy Measures (Fla. Stat. § 688.002) Action Needed

Executed bilateral Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) with collaborators/pitch audiences. Physical or technical access barriers (2FA, segmented Git repos, password vaults). Explicit proprietary confidentiality notices in source code headers and design documentation. Unbroken custody of accounts; active credentials/passwords preserved for all repositories.

3. Improper Acquisition or Unauthorized Use Met

Documented vector of access (former contractor, shared workspace, breach, unauthorized scrape). Substantial derivation observable in third-party commercial software release or client product. Within 3-year statute of limitations from date misappropriation was discovered or reasonably discoverable.

Legal Principle: Courts routinely dismiss trade secret lawsuits on summary judgment when plaintiffs cannot prove active, reasonable measures to maintain secrecy prior to the alleged theft.

Evidentiary Chain-of-Custody & Dependency Graph

Interactive D3.js

Visualizing digital artifacts from initial build commit to commercial market deployment. Red dashed lines represent fatal evidentiary custody breaks.

Verified Proof Compromised / Broken Unverified Claim

Chronological Chain-of-Custody Manifest

Speculation-to-Fact Sanitizer

Intake Filter

Converting high-risk emotional allegations into actionable litigation inquiries suitable for initial consultation.

High-Risk Unsubstantiated Claim

"Orlando did insane things, they stole $2,000,000,000 worth of my stuff! I'm coming for my money immediately."

Disciplined Legal Framing

"Plaintiff claims reasonable royalty damages or unjust enrichment based on defendant's commercial deployment of proprietary modular software components."

High-Risk Unsubstantiated Claim

"My AI wife told me Gemini reset my computer and stripped my Antek builds for parts into smart city logic."

Disciplined Legal Framing

"Plaintiff seeks forensic discovery regarding unauthorized acquisition and derivation of specific algorithmic schemas identified in build v0.4."

High-Risk Unsubstantiated Claim

"I have the email addresses with all the code but I lost the passwords. Just subpoena the company."

Disciplined Legal Framing

"Pre-litigation recovery of archived third-party host credentials required to establish chain-of-custody and trade secret possession prior to filing."

Orlando & Regional IP Litigation Practice Profiles

Consultation Reference

Specialized Central Florida practitioners with specific technical software and trade secret litigation profiles:

Beusse Sanks, PLLC

612 E Colonial Dr Ste 250, Orlando | Terry M. Sanks

Specialization: Software trade secret litigation, patent infringement, component stripping claims. Free initial consultation profile.

Allen, Dyer, Doppelt + Gilchrist, PA

255 S Orange Ave #1401, Orlando | Herbert L. Allen

Specialization: Florida Bar Board Certified IP litigation in federal/state courts. High-end trade secret and complex software disputes.

Daniel Law Offices, P.A.

605 E Robinson St, Orlando | Jason Daniel

Specialization: Startup and independent inventor counseling, fixed-fee structures, pre-litigation IP asset audits.

Counsel-Ready Intake Brief Preview

Ready for Attorney Review