Trade secret counsel.
Keep valuable information protected.

Confidential business information is not automatically a trade secret. Under the federal definition in 18 U.S.C. § 1839(3), the owner must take reasonable measures to keep the information secret, and the information must derive independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable through proper means.

Potential examples include formulas, methods, processes, code, technical plans, and business compilations. Whether a particular asset qualifies depends on the information and the circumstances, including the measures used to protect it.

Trade secret protection has a different role from copyright or trademark registration. It depends on secrecy and the legal requirements for the information, rather than a public registration of the secret.

We prepare and review agreements for employees, contractors, developers, service providers, prospective partners, and transactions. The work may involve a standalone NDA or confidentiality provisions within a broader commercial agreement.

The same relationship may raise separate questions about ownership of new work, rights to use existing technology, and protection of confidential information. An NDA should not be assumed to resolve all three.

We help clients consider those connections in third-party agreements, technology contracts, and business transactions.