2. What makes something a trade secret?

As mentioned, a trade secret is any information that both benefits a business commercially and is kept a secret. More specifically, when deciding whether something qualifies as a trade secret, courts will typically consider the following factors:

• the extent to which the information is known outside of the particular business entity

• the extent to which the information is known by employees and others involved in the business

• the extent to which measures have been taken to guard the secrecy of the information

• the value of the information to the business, and

• the difficulty with which the information could be properly acquired or independently duplicated by others.

  Related terms: competitive advantage; compilation of information as a trade secret; copyright and trade secret law compatibility; head start rule; in-house trade secrets; notice to employees of trade secret; novelty and trade secrets; parallel research; patent application, effect on trade secrets; physical devices, ability to maintain as trade secrets; read-only memories (ROMs) and trade secrets; reasonably precautionary measures to protect trade secrets; source code as trade secret; trade secret, defined; trade secret owner; Uniform Trade Secret Protection Act.