Hello!
There are several forms of intellectual property that a business may own. They are trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. On this blog I mainly discuss trademarks and copyrights. Recently, I have been advising clients on protecting valuable trade secrets. As a result, I am going to explain what are trade secrets and give practical tips on how to effectively protect them.
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable to the public.
Some examples of trade secrets are:
1. Formula for the soft drink, Coca-Cola
2. Business processes
3. Marketing Strategies
4. Food Recipes
5. Computer Algorithms
In addition, the trade secret must be of an economic advantage over a business' competitors or customers. Lastly, the owner of the trade secret must take reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
Reasonable efforts to protect a trade secret is key in maintaining intellectual property rights in the trade secret and in pursuing those who steal the trade secret for economic gain. Here are a few tips on how to protect trade secrets:
1. Require all employees, vendors, contractors, business partners, etc to sign non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements regarding the confidentiality of any trade secrets.
2. Implement adequate security measures to protect the secrecy of the trade secret. This may include keeping the trade secret under lock and key; using code words; restricting access to a select few individuals; restricting access to trade secrets by using programmable access passcards, computer fire walls, multiple level password protection, and secured intranets.
Once again, taking reasonable measures to protect trade secrets is key when pursuing a claim for "trade secret theft". If it is proven that the owner of the trade secret did not implement an adequate security system to protect trade secrets, then the trade secret loses its protection.
I welcome your thoughts!
4 comments:
I want to start by saying Thank You very much for sharing your knowledge with us. I am currently going through the trademark process and yes it is intimidating. I am trying to do it myself and this wasn't designed for us mere mortals...lol I do however have a question. I hand make body scrubs, body butters etc...when I called the patten office to get information the lady on the phone told me that a patten wasn't necessary but I should consider trademarking my name & logo. Is trade secrets something that I need to consider also because I was inspired by other receipes but I did create my own formula. Any insight you could provide is greatly appreciated.
Latoicha:
Checking out your post, I immediately through of another important type of trade secret that almost all businesses have: customer lists. Thanks for the post.
@icis Thank you for commenting! Trade secret protection is perfect for your product! You definitely should implement some of the suggestions I mention to protect your formula. Also, trademarking your logo and or name is the first step in protecting your brand!
@Douglas R. Griess Hi Douglas! You are so right! Forgot to mention that. Client lists are important Trade Secrets that businesses should never overlook! Thanks for commenting!
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