Historically, the success (or lack thereof) of a business often can be traced to the quality and quantity of its trade secrets, which are the legal embodiment of a “competitive business advantage.” Recent developments in the intellectual property landscape have only served to enhance the value of trade secrets. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Alice v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 189 L. Ed. 2d 296 (2014), has led to an increasingly hostile patent marketplace. Faced with trying to obtain a patent for a business method that may implicate Alice, many businesses are choosing to extract value through trade secret protections instead.
Given the well-known value of trade secrets, it should come as no surprise that corporate espionage is now among the top threats faced by businesses. Many corporations have responded by instituting new executive-level positions to specifically combat this ever-growing risk. Of course, even if a company does implement internal protections, it faces the threat of disclosure by its own employees—both current and former. Simply put, the path to effective trade secret protection is littered with obstacles.
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