Discover your company's trade secrets

What exactly are trade secrets? Strange birds with wings that can only be identified?

It is claimed that the Coca Cola recipe is the world's most famous trade secret. It has never been published or patented, but has been kept secret. Coca Cola has a very large vault in Atlanta, which they show the public, saying that it was where the recipe was stored. This vault and its story are part of the marketing and brand mystique — although the company is also very protective of the recipe legally and commercially. In other words, the company has managed to turn a trade secret into a marketing tool!

The law gives a - how could it be, three-point! - definition:

A trade secret is “information …. a) that is not generally known or readily available ; b) that has economic value in business precisely because it is secret; and c) that the lawful holder has taken reasonable steps to protect. ”

What does this mean? If it's a bakery that makes, say, the Ellen Svinhufvud cake, the recipe for the cake is clearly a trade secret. The recipe has obvious economic value and is not generally known or discoverable.

Then the baker must carefully protect the recipe so that it is not revealed to competitors. Since the cake is already over 80 years old, it is clear that the recipe must be kept secret without time limits, so it is an evergreen secret!

If a machine shop makes a bid for a contract, the contract bid itself and its price are a trade secret. In that case, the machine shop must ensure that it is not revealed to competitors prematurely. But as soon as the contractor is selected, at least some of the information in the bid may lose its value, i.e. it would no longer be a trade secret.

This shows that the actual content of a trade secret can be very broad, it is not limited to technical information, and ultimately depends on what kind of business it is. And the essential thing is the obligation given by law that “ the holder has taken reasonable steps to protect it”. Once you internalize this, it is actually very easy to see and identify trade secrets. A bit like spotting birds, which have 3 clear characteristics!

So now is the time to spot your company's secret birds, now that the identification tags have been given! And take good care of these winged creatures so they don't just escape before their time. They can be found anywhere: in the factory hall, on the sales manager's shelf, on the edge of the flour mill or on the desk of the geniuses in the product development department!