You don't always have to choose between patenting your invention and keeping it as a trade secret. By filing your U.S. patent application with a nonpublication request under 35 U.S.C. § 122(b)(2)(B)(i), you can keep the invention out of the public record while you decide which form of protection serves your business best. Most patent attorneys frame this as either/or. In my … [Read more...]
Trade secret
A trade secret is information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known to the public or other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use and is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. Sections 3426 to 3426.11 of the California Civil Code.
Browse related articles below.
Protecting Your Product from Reverse Engineering
When you launch your product into the market, everyone is watching. If it becomes a popular product, your competitors will buy it, disassemble it, and replicate it. This process is known as reverse engineering, and it’s a tactic many companies use to gain insights into a rival’s innovations without investing in the same amount of research and development. For many, it puts … [Read more...]
Why an invention that can’t be reverse engineered is best protected as a trade secret?
When choosing how to protect an invention, particularly one that can’t be reverse engineered, it’s essential to understand the differences between various forms of intellectual property protection. For many such inventions, trade secret protection offers clear advantages over patents. While patents provide exclusive rights to an invention, they also require public disclosure, … [Read more...]
What is a trade secret?
A trade secret is a type of intellectual property. Trade secret laws protect valuable confidential information from theft by others. You don't have to register your information for it to be your trade secret. Rather, all you need to do is to take reasonable steps to keep it a secret. For example, you don't register your customer list but your customer list is considered … [Read more...]
End run around inevitable disclosure doctrine
Scope of injunction narrow based on rejection of inevitable disclosure doctrine In a trade secret case, courts tailor the scope of an injunction to narrowly protect the trade secret information of the trade secret owner. Anything more may prevent others from being able to seek employment or engage in a lawful profession which goes against California’s strong public policy of … [Read more...]
Non-compete agreement enforceable when part of sale of business
Tension between Trade Secret and California’s Section 16600 Most states in the United States have adopted some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act which protects information considered to be valuable due to its secrecy. However, in an employment situation, employees learn the trade secrets of its employer over a period of time. When the employee switches employment, the … [Read more...]
CFAA applicable to hackers and not employees with authorized access
Scope of CFAA In U.S. v. Nosal, the scope of liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was at issue. The CFAA was primarily enacted to combat the problem of computer hacking. However, employers have been applying the CFAA to instances where employees have authorized access to company information but have misused the information. In Nosal, an ex-employee set up a … [Read more...]
Trade Secret Exception to Section 16600
California has a strong public policy that allows employees to change jobs, seek employment, or otherwise practice their trade or skill. This policy is embodied in Business and Professions Code Section 16600 (“Section 16600”). Under Section 16600, all contracts that restrain an employee’s ability to work are void unless the contract is based on a dissolution of partnership or … [Read more...]