{"id":744,"date":"2022-01-25T21:44:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T21:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/?page_id=744"},"modified":"2022-01-25T21:44:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T21:44:41","slug":"what-is-a-trade-secret","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/resources\/general-intellectual-property-principles\/what-is-a-trade-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Trade Secret?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_18-1024x46.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-496\" width=\"1138\" height=\"51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_18-1024x46.png 1024w, https:\/\/inventedly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_18-300x14.png 300w, https:\/\/inventedly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_18-768x35.png 768w, https:\/\/inventedly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_18.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1138px) 100vw, 1138px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tHome\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-color wp-block-heading\" style=\"color:#0461ce\">What is a Trade Secret?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#0461ce;color:#0461ce\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Broadly speaking, trade secrets include any information or process which provides a competitive edge.\u00a0 Trade secrets must not be known or reasonably ascertainable.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>United States law provides that a trade secret may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans, compilations, program devices, formulas, designs, prototypes, methods, techniques, processes, procedures, programs, or codes, whether tangible or intangible, and whether or how stored, compiled, or memorialized physically, electronically, graphically, photographically, or in writing if\u2014<ul><li>the owner thereof has taken reasonable measures to keep such information secret; and<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>the information derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable through proper means by, the public<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_744_1('footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_744_1('footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_744_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1839<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_744_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually, a trade secret is kept within a company by some type of an agreement (e.g. contractually binding non-disclosure agreement, etc.).&nbsp; Additionally, although it has a sense of folklore, some assert that a trade secret may be divided up between several individuals within a company so that no \u201cone\u201d individual has the complete knowledge.<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_744_1('footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_744_1('footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_744_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">I\u2019ve heard this with respect especially to companies that have a highly desired \u201crecipe.\u201d<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_744_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although it is perhaps obvious, a trade secret remains in force only as long as it is a secret.&nbsp; Some famous trade secret examples include the Coca-Cola recipe, Google\u2019s proprietary search algorithm, Mrs. Field\u2019s cookie recipe, the WD-40 recipe, and the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_744_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_744_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_744_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_744_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_744_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_1');\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_plugin_link\" ><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1839<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_744_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_744_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_744_1_2');\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_plugin_link\" ><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">I\u2019ve heard this with respect especially to companies that have a highly desired \u201crecipe.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_744_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_744_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_744_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_744_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_744_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_744_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_744_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_744_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_744_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_744_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_744_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_744_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_744_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_744_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a Trade Secret? Broadly speaking, trade secrets include any information or process which provides a competitive edge.\u00a0 Trade secrets must not be known or reasonably ascertainable.\u00a0 United States law provides that a trade secret may include: all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans, compilations, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":510,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-744","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":746,"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744\/revisions\/746"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inventedly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}