Trade secrets involve commercially valuable business information not generally known or readily accessible to persons normally dealing with that information. Chemical formulae are often trade secrets; customer lists that could be recreated by looking in the phone book are not generally recognized as trade secrets. Reasonable steps must be undertaken by businesses possessing and claiming protection for trade secrets. Unlike PATENTs, COPYRIGHTs, and TRADEMARKs, trade secrets are not remittable with governments; indeed, disclosure of the secrets would eliminate their value. However, trade secrets can, if protected, last forever, something that is not true of patents and copyrights. The world’s best-kept trade secret, for example, may well be the Coca-Cola formula. Protecting trade secrets is difficult, even in the legal jurisdictions where they are recognized. Angry employees or retirees are common sources of disclosure of trade secrets. Though they breach promises made in their CONTRACTs of EMPLOYMENT, suing to recover DAMAGES will never recover the secret’s full value. If competitors were involved in the unauthorized disclosure, broader remedies may be available, but a trade secret that has been for example, posted, on the INTERNET is lost forever. Thus, trade secrets are a high-stakes environment. The NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA) was the first international agreement to require protection of trade secrets in each country by making it illegal to disclose them by “dishonest commercial practices.” To obtain protection, the owner of the trade secret must be willing to document its existence to the satisfaction of a court or administrative authorities. Similar duties to protect trade secrets are provided in the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION’s agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
See also ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE ACT; PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.