The BEST kept secret: A trade secret

CHAL 3

Ali I. Ahmed, Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, LLP, 901 New York Avenue, N.W, Washington, DC 20001
Many large corporations protect their confidential information through non-compete non-disclosure contracts with its employees. The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.

This presentation will look at the considerations in seeking patent versus trade secret protection for intellectual property.