Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors. The formula for Coca-Cola is a famous trade secret.
Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA) defines trade secret as follows:
- "Trade secret" means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program device, method, technique, or process, that: (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from no being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy
The subject matter of a trade secret must be secret. Trade secret protection is not, however, lost if the secret is discovered through "improper means."
The only protection that an inventor has before a patent issues is trade secret protection. Therefore, it is important for an inventor to have confidentiality agreements signed by parties who receive information related to the invention to prevent lose of trade secret rights.