Protect Trade SecretsFederal-Level. Common-law interpretations have recently moved from individual states, into a more collective federal body of law. The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 makes the illegal, unauthorized possession and use of a trade secret a federal criminal offense. This Act also expands the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) definition of trade secret to include the new technological ways that trade secrets are created and stored. Ultimately, a trade secret is not something a business or individual may claim exclusive ownership of. Anyone can legally arrive at the exact same conclusion or develop the exact same procedure, fragrance, or formula that someone else has invented without having any inside trade-secret knowledge. Within the past 10 to 20 years, trade-secret legal jurisdiction has changed greatly. The UTSA (like traditional trade secret law) contains general concepts, but also specifies the definitions of trade secret and trade secret misappropriation, a single statute of limitations for violations, and the legal remedies for trade secret misappropriation. What sets a trade secret apart is that its possessor chooses not to apply for formal intellectual property ownership and, most importantly, takes measures to protect the trade secret from discovery. So long as secrecy is maintained, a possessor may be able to keep the rights to a trade secret indefinitely. Theoretically the trade secret could develop into a type of unlimited patent that, when challenged, leads into a realm of nebulous, lengthy, and expensive legal proceedings. A trade secret lives a dual existence. It is a type of intellectual property like any other which has automatic common-law rights of ownership, and could be formally patented, copyrighted or trademarked. A trade secret is governed by state law, which in various cases either overrides or supplements federal patent and copyright laws. Secrecy can be maintained through fairly simple confidentiality and security measures (such as stamping all sensitive material as "confidential" and limiting its access to specific personnel), or through a formal protection strategy specifically created to ensure that the trade secret falls under both state and federal laws protecting its status. State-Level. Relatively new legislation at the state level has combined separate state trade-secret laws into a single act or standard, which is now followed by nearly every state. However a trade secret must still fall within the guidelines of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) which not only codifies the basic principles of common law trade secret protection, but also the distinctions from patent law. | |