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
$
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