Not revealing your trade secret to anyone is not enough to preserve secrecy. Courts generally require active steps to protect trade secrets. However, if there is a stated "don't tell" policy, such a policy can represent sufficient activity to preserve secrecy. The nature of the trade secret will also dictate the type of effort and action required to preserve secrecy.
When is not telling anyone enough to preserve my trade secret?
If you are self-employed and the sole employee of your business, then not telling anyone your secret is sufficient for protecting it. However, you may want to consider your competition’s ability to reverse engineer or research your process. For instance, if you manufacturer and sell a special blend of tea with ingredients that no one knows about, it is possible that your competition could attempt to reverse engineer the tea. In this case, it may be prudent to consider patenting your tea blend instead of keeping it a secret to ensure that the recipe remains your property.
What are some minor active steps I can take to preserve secrecy?
Courts have accepted some less active means of keeping your trade secret a secret. For instance, locking the trade secret in a secured place, such as a safe to which only you have access. This action shows that you are taking measures to protect the trade secret. In addition, requiring that no other employees or contractors be present while you are conducting the process would be construed as actively protecting your trade secret.
What must I do to protect my trade secret as my business grows?
As your business grows, you will need to take more active measures to protect your trade secret. For instance, you can choose to disclose the information only to select employees and require that they sign a non-disclosure agreement. While such an agreement may seem a little over the top, it serves as a reminder to the employee of the importance of the trade secret.
Getting Help
If you have further questions or concerns about protecting your trade secret, you should get in touch with an intellectual property attorney in your area.