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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1963)
Goodrich, International Latex at Odds EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD. Thurt., Mr. 21, 1968 Faga 11A By HARDEN OfAMBLISS Of the Aitocllted Pre It Tire Firm Trying to Make Ex-Employe Hold in Secrets From Girdle Maker iub& wnats in i man's head can belong to some one else. His knowledge, courts have held, ii not necessarily his to . sen. This proposition is being , tested anew in a conflict in volving a tire company, a girdle matter and a bright young chem ical engineer. The outcome could have broad implications for industry ana workers. At issue is the principle rooted in English common law that trade secrets a man learns on the job belong to whoeyer was paying him at the time. Knowledge of ingredients and of ways of putting things to gether or working materials is not the property of the dis coverer but belong to his em ployer, this principle has held The new legal action tries to find out exactly how this operates. The tire company, B. F. Good rich, is seeking to prevent a former employe, Donald Wohlgemuth, 30, from working in a certain operation of Inter national Latex Corp., the firm that makes Playtex products. Goodrich says it fears the loss of confidential informa tion fthnnt snaps cnitc tha fiaM In , which Wohlgemuth had worked for Goodrich. Goodrich said it is pressing ) the case "in view of the im- porlance to American industry ' - of the legal question involved." ' The problem has mushroomed ; in recent years. Some $15 billion .a year is spent on research. Products and processes depend ."upon complex and intricate in formation. . Corporations worry that ideas that cost millions might pass out ;the door into a competitor's -plant in the person of a depart ing employe. '.. As a result, an increasing number of firms require techni cal people to sign an agreement not to reveal secrets to a future 'employer, usually for a stated period of time six months to ;two years in most cases. . I'. Many firms also write into -employment contracts agree ments that employes will not -work for competitive firms for -Ti given period. J Increasingly, men who switch -jobs find that their old boss has written their new boss a letter. The letter tells what kind of in formation the employe had that -tha .former employer thinks -ahould be kept secret. Watching these efforts, the knowing loo many company se crets could bind him to a firm in a kind of intellectual servi tude. There are broader considera tions. The free interchange of men and ideas, said one chemical company executive, is what makes a v competitive society perk most effectively. 'Ten years- ago, there were only two companies making polyethylene," he . said. "Now there are a dozen. Who started up these new plants? They weren't all college kids, you can be sure of that." But others argue that without secrecy safeguards, research funds would dry up. No one will spend money learning what someone else could steal. Also, said a corporation at torney, secret-keeping doesn't have to reduce mobility or hamper cross fertilization of ideas. Restrictions are placed only on very specific informa tion about very specific things, he said. The line where general in formation stops and specific, secret information begins is not always easy to draw, however. The Goodrich case attracts interests for this reason, among others. It involves trying to spell out the secret area in ad vance, then prevent the newly hired employe from working in it. This emphasis on restricting before there has been any actual disclosure makes the case some thing of a bellwether, some legal experts think. Wohlgemuth, a graduate engi neer from the University of Michigan, had been technical manager of space suit develop ment engineering for Good rich. The firm has been a lead er in the field, providing the suits for astronauts in Project Mercury. International Latex, based at Dover, Del., is a relative new comer in the field with a new $1.5-million contract for Apollo moon flight outfits. It hired Wohlgemuth, topping his $10. 600 a year salary at Goodrich with pay of $13,700. Goodrich went to court and got an injunction stopping Wohlgemuth from doing any work for Latex. "Until the hiring of Mr. Wohlegemuth," said Goodrich, "it had been the uniform prac tice of companies in the in dustry to train their own space suit scientists." Latex replied that Wohl- Firefighters ; ' - ' 1 sVoice Plea ' SALEM Wl The House Tax "Committee heard a plea Tues day night for part of a cigarette -tax to be used for training and additional facilities for rural rid volunteer fire districts. ' Harold Jacobson, Portland, rep resenting Oregon Fire Services, asked the committee for one fifth of a cent of a 4-cent ciga rette tax if the committee de tided to recommend such a tax. !. Jacobson said this would mount to about $450,000 a year. He said it would be used for death benefits for firemen's families; for equipping training ienters; for strengthening the 'fire marshal's staff; and for op jerating four area fire drill fa cilities. Jacobson said the cigarettes -cause a narasnip on nreugni "fers, and the type of fire caused hy cigarettes is more likely to Jresult in smoke damage to fire 'nen. Tht Oregon Fire Services is "iomposed of the Oregon Fire Chiefs Assn., the Oregon Volun teer Firemen Assn., and the Oregon Rural Fire Protection Districts Assn. Smoking, Health Institute Set ; At OSU April 11 rnDIiVT TC Tn rail alien- i. . . r r- i lion 10 Dangers oi shiumub, gon State University and state . medical ana neaim orKint- . tions will sponsor a public "in ititute on Smoking and Health" April 11 at OSU. The institute will be repeated "the following day at Portland . State College. Research reports are sched uled on the relation of smoking to cancer, heart disease, chronic bronchitis and lung diseases, along with a review of tha be havioral aspects of smoking. , Speakers will ba four nationally-known medical leaders. They include: Dr. E. Cuyler Vammnnri director of statistical research, American Cancer So ciety; Dr. Joseph T. Doyie, director of cardiovascular med icine, Albany. N.Y., Medical College; Dr. R. H. Browning, professor of medicine and chest .,...,.. nhin state University. and Dr.'Thomas Carlile, Seattle radiologist and past presinem of the American Cancer Society. Th in.iitnia is believed to n the first of its kind in the Slate, and one of the first in ine m aiiAA mfi-nrArtj to Dr. C. L. ; Anderson, OSU professor of : nealth and hygiene. Meetings are scheduled In the OSU Home Economics auoi torium starting it 1:18 P m- gemuth had a right to advance his career, said Goodrich was underpaying him for the job he was doing and that Latex mere ly paid him average rates for his kind of skills. Further, Latex said its space suit technology was different from in fact, was farther ad vanced than Goodrich's. Common Pleas Court Judge Frank H. Harvey in Akron, Ohio, where Goodrich is based, ruled after a trial that "the mere fact that a former em ploye who possesses a trade se cret has accepted employment from a rival manufacturer isn't sufficient to warrant an injunc tion against the employe" un less evil intent is shown. Wohlgemuth, who lives with his wife and child in a new house he bought near the Dover plant, could return to work, the judge said. Goodrich appealed. What it seeks is a permanent order resembling a temporary one in a parallel case involving the Du Pont Co. and American Potash and Chemical Co., Los Angeles. Du Pont has so far prevented Donald E. Hirsch, 38, a father of four who has a doctorate in chemical engineering from working for American Potash on a process he helped Du Pont develop. This order is merely a prelim inary injunction, however. There has been no trial on the merits. The Goodrich case is the fore runner because it has been to trial the court decision which Goodrich lost. Now Goodrich hopes to win its point on ap peal. Attorneys from Du Pont and the many other firms with similar cases brewing will watch carefully the Goodrich appeal hearings in Akron April 11. So will thoughtful members of technical staffs throughout American industry. m $ J) MOT POINT APPLIANCES Sylvania & Philco TV and Stereo LAST TWO DAYS! BOTH STORIES! isaaii i v X all ... - . 4 :i V aawa m m . . . V j s i m EUGENE SPRINGFIELD The "Kengington" by Sylvania Sylvana console TV, Big 23"- Velvetone reflection-free view ing screen. 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