Trade Secrets Are Intellectual Property

Can you keep a secret? If you can’t, you may find yourself in legal hot water for spilling the beans.

Just about everyone has heard or read about trade secrets. They’re the stuff spy novels are based on and make terrific cases to report on for the 6 o’clock news. For those that don’t know what a trade secret is, it’s primarily a type of intellectual property. Because it does fall into the arena of intellectual property, it is largely protected by federal laws. There are also some state laws that are applicable as well, but your attorney will be able to tell you which ones apply and which ones don’t.

Typically speaking a trade secret is usually considered to be a pattern, practice, process, design or even a formula (or any similar collection of information) not generally known or even reasonably discoverable. That means if someone has a formula for making a certain drug that does not have any dangerous side effects; they will want to keep it out of the public eye and away from the competition.

If you own the company, in order for you to get protection for your trade secret, you have to offer a competitive economic advantage over your competitors. This is information best discussed with a Dallas business lawyer in order to know precisely what your rights are.

Generally speaking, what actually does qualify as a trade secret usually depends on what jurisdiction you are in. Other than that, there are several guidelines for whether or not a certain piece of intellectual property does qualify as a trade secret.

Overall, there are at least three things that may qualify your intellectual property as a trade secret. The first one would be if your company is the one holding it, that you get some economic benefit from it. The second requirement is that you take reasonable precautions to keep the “secret” a secret, and the third one is that your secret is not generally known to most people.

Just what does “taking reasonable precautions” actually mean? A locked vault in your office? A hush-hush safety deposit box in another city with only one key to access it? Well, it may mean that, but most often it really means that to meet the “standard” of reasonable protection, you have to take precautions in various procedures and activities.

Say for instance you have a new employee joining your company, and that employee signs non-compete and non-disclosure agreements. These clauses guarantee the employer won’t leak the secret outside the confines of the workplace or to any other worker who doesn’t have permission to know it.
Here is one other thing you should know; trade secrets are usually compared to patents. Really, the only difference is the extent of their protections and their timing. This means that trade secrets are protected forever so long as the three criteria we mentioned earlier in this article are met. However, and there are always exceptions to rules like this, if another firm or individual discovers the trade secret (not steals it), they are able to lawfully use it.

Patents on the other hand, have a limit, and they may only be held for 20 years. They have an advantage over trade secrets though and that is no one can use a patented item or information, no matter how they get it.
If you want to know which route to go with your trade secret, speak to a well qualified Dallas business lawyer.

Seth Wilburn writes for the Gomez Law Group, a Dallas employment lawyer and Dallas business lawyer. To learn more, visit Gomezlawyers.com.

Tags: Dallas business attorney, Dallas business lawyer, Dallas employment attorney, Dallas employment lawyer

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