We think a former employee stole our code and started his own company with it. What can we do?
<h1>What can we do?</h1>

<p>With respect to this topic, I found <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/facebook-hacker-tells-all/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> anecdote.  But I don't work for Facebook, and we have nowhere near the clout or the user base they do.  I'm not 100% sure why Facebook was able to nail this kid so harshly, but obviously billions of people use Facebook whereas our smaller company is not such a security risk</p>

<p>Nonetheless, can we sue our former employee?  I'm surprised this kid even got jailed for it; I'm not interested in putting my former friend and colleague in prison.  We just want them to stop stealing our business</p>

<p>We have a one-man legal team and are just a startup</p>

<h1>Other resources I've looked at:</h1>

<ol>
<li><a href="https://embeddedgurus.com/stack-overflow/2012/02/why-you-really-shouldnt-steal-source-code/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://embeddedgurus.com/stack-overflow/2012/02/why-you-really-shouldnt-steal-source-code/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/02/16/a-guide-to-patenting-software-getting-started/id=35629/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/02/16/a-guide-to-patenting-software-getting-started/id=35629/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-people-just-steal-open-source-code-do-a-quick-restructuring-and-sell-it-commercially-as-their-own-Is-there-a-way-to-prove-if-you-think-someone-is-using-your-OS-code-in-a-closed-source-code-format-for-profit" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-people-just-steal-open-source-code-do-a-quick-restructuring-and-sell-it-commercially-as-their-own-Is-there-a-way-to-prove-if-you-think-someone-is-using-your-OS-code-in-a-closed-source-code-format-for-profit</a></li>
<li><a href="https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/154155/should-you-keep-a-copy-of-all-the-code-you-write">https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/154155/should-you-keep-a-copy-of-all-the-code-you-write</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-29/chinese-citizen-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-treasury-software" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-29/chinese-citizen-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-treasury-software</a></li>
</ol>

<p>You should talk to an attorney, but based on what you've provided, there are potential claims for copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, conversion, unfair trade practices, and probably quite a bit more. </p>

<p>What you are describing is a copyright violation and you could sue the former employee for violating your copyright in the code if you could prove its source.</p>

intellectual-property software