Trade Secrets FAQs

Information must be commercially valuable, known only to a limited group, and safeguarded through reasonable efforts. The trade secret must also be identifiable.  

Customer lists, manufacturing processes, formulas, software source code or algorithms, financial information, business or marketing strategies, and unique methods, techniques, or technical know-how that are not publicly known and are protected by reasonable security measures.

Protection lasts indefinitely as long as the secret remains confidential.

Penalties include injunctions, damages, and sometimes criminal charges, depending on jurisdiction.

Yes, trade secrets can be licensed or transferred, but confidentiality must be maintained.

Measures include NDAs, access controls, employee training, and secure storage.

Trade secrets have no expiration but require secrecy, while patents offer limited-term exclusivity in exchange for public disclosure. If a trade secret can be reversed engineered, protecting it with a patent may be a better option. 

Audit confidential data, assess its value, and document security measures.

Yes, through agreements like the TRIPS Agreement, but enforcement varies by country.

Protection may be lost unless the disclosure was limited and confidentiality promptly reinstated. 

Yes, but if you patent the invention, you disclose the information publicly which means it can no longer be a trade secret.  You can, however, patent an invention where certain aspects may not be disclosed in the patent.  The part that is not included may be maintained as a trade secret.   

No, there is no registration process for trade secrets. Protection is automatic as long as the information is kept secret and is valuable to the business. 

NDAs are legal contracts that prevent parties from disclosing confidential information, such as trade secrets, to others.