Business, innovation and proprietary information are often the cornerstones of a companies’ success. Companies invest significant time, resources, and expertise to develop and maintain their unique processes, formulas, and strategies that provide an edge over their competitors. However, just because the information is a valuable business assets does not automatically make it a trade secret and provide the foundation for a lawsuit over its unauthorized use. In the world of trade secret protection, information is either a “trade secret” (and protectable) or it is not a trade secret (and not protectable).
Despite attempts over the years to conflate the issue, there is no middle gound. Protecting Confidential Information does not make it a trade secret. To be protected as a trade secret companies must protect their valuable information as a secret.