Trade Secrets don’t require registration or disclosure to qualify for protection

[Gary,07/13/2023, American Public University, “What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?”, https://www.apu.apus.edu/area-of-study/security-and-global-studies/resources/what-is-intellectual-property-law/#:~:text=IP%20Laws,variety%20of%20products%20and%20services, accessed 7/11/2024, LR]

Trade secrets

Finally, a trade secret is a protection that gives a creator or owner the exclusive right to use, disclose, or sell a kind of sensitive business information. Trade secrets can include a wide variety of different types of information, including formulas, recipes, manufacturing processes, customer lists, marketing plans, financial information, and other valuable data.

Like copyrights, trade secrets do not have to be registered in order to enjoy intellectual property protections. But the information in question must meet a number of criteria in order to qualify as a trade secret.

First, the information must not be generally known to the public. Second, it must be of some demonstrable economic value to the party claiming protections. And third, reasonable efforts must have been made in order to try to maintain its secrecy.

If these criteria are met, then the owners of trade secrets may sue other parties who attempt to usurp or misappropriate them.