In addition to patents, trademarks, and copyrights, intellectual property may be protected by trade secret law.
Trade secrets can cover such things as ideas and know-how. A trade secret or know-how is a set of data or information that is generally not known in the industry which provides the user with an advantage over competitors. The formula for Coca-Cola is protected by trade secret law, for example.
A trade secret can be any information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable. Among the things that can be trade secrets are a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process.
Among things courts have found to be trade secrets are machining processes, blueprints, and stock-picking formulae, customer lists, pricing information, and non-public financial data. On the other hand, information such as overhead rates and profit margins that help define a price may be found to be a trade secret even if the price itself is known.
Know-how is the legal definition for a manufacturing process that is completely novel and otherwise unique to the industry. In order to make know-how trade secret worthy, it must also be part of a process that gives that manufacturer its advantage. An example of know-how that is trade secret worthy may be a dairy farmer’s feed blend that they offer the cows for exceptionally sweet and healthy milk. Another example may be a particular temperature that a steel company tempers their steel at to make it stronger than the industry standard.
No, the whole point of a trade secret is that it is just that, a secret. Manufacturers with trade secrets lock this knowledge up in a very secure place and restrict the amount of knowledge any one person retains about the trade secret.
In order for their business to run, some people must know the trade secret. In order to make sure it remains confidential, companies will require that anyone who will be privy to the information sign a non-disclosure agreement. In addition, typically any paperwork or communications regarding the trade secret will have a posted confidentiality reminder on them to prevent any accidental leaks.
If a business is taking every step possible to keep their trade secret a secret, the law will order anyone who is threatening to share the information to stop. If they still leak the information, they will be fined for the damages to the company, which can be monumental.