Metallurgical Industries v. Fourtek
(1) Secrecy is always required but
beyond that there is no universal requirement. Factors to consider (1) a
confidentiality agreement between the two parties, (2) the value of the
modifications or secret, and (3) the cost of developing the secret or
device. (why would a company spend money to develop something that you
could acquire through public source)
If an idea has occurred to someone
before or is even in use by another it can qualify for trade secret
protection. Categories of information eligible for protection are quite
expansive- they can include secret combinations and scientific and
technical information, customer lists etc.
Six factors to be considered in determining whether information constitutes as a trade secret:
1) the extent to which the information is known outside the claimant’s
business. 2) the extent to which it is known by employees and others
involved in the business. 3) the extent of measures taken by the
claimant to guard the secrecy of the information 4) the value of the
info to the business and its competitors 5) the amount of effort or
money expended by the business in developing the information 6) the ease
or difficulty with which the information could be properly acquired or
duplicated by others.
Courts have rules a trade secret was
violated where the competitor stole the secret even though it was
publicly available. The problem was not that the defendant acquired the
information but how it was acquired.
Restatement has suggested that information used by many people cannot be a secret.
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