Intellectual Property and Assessing its Financial Value

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Trade secrets

Abstract: Keeping information secret instead of disclosing it via

filing – for example – a patent application can sometimes be a

preferred manner to protect the economic value of this information.

This chapter describes what a trade secret is, what should be done

to keep information secret, and what the weaknesses of trade

secrets are.

Key words: protecting trade secrets, reverse engineering.

What is a trade secret?

A trade secret is important information that a company keeps secret

to give it a competitive advantage. The most famous trade secret is the

Coca-Cola® formula.

Trade secrets are not protected by IP-related laws. Protection ...