Fleming Sales Co. v. Bailey

In Fleming Sales Co. v. Bailey, 611 F. Supp. 507, 509 (N.D. Ill. 1985), an employer sought trade secret protection for information about its customers that a salesman learned while working for the employer. Fleming Sales Co., 611 F. Supp. at 514. In denying the employer trade secret protection, the court noted that the information the employer wanted protected was "nothing more than the kind of knowledge any successful salesman necessarily acquires through experience." Fleming Sales Co., 611 F. Supp. at 514. The court concluded that the employee's knowledge of information about the employer's customers was not a trade secret but, rather, that information involved "general skills and knowledge acquired in the course of employment." Fleming Sales Co., 611 F. Supp. at 514.