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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2003

Thomas M. Apke

Protection and enforcement of trade secrets outside the USA have been minimal and undeveloped and of particular concern when using the Internet. Substantive and procedural laws…

1876

Abstract

Protection and enforcement of trade secrets outside the USA have been minimal and undeveloped and of particular concern when using the Internet. Substantive and procedural laws vary from country to country. In recent years there has been a move toward harmonization under the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. However, the provisions of TRIPS allow for varying periods for member countries to come into compliance. In the meantime international protection of trade secrets is uncertain, thus necessitating the development and implementation of strategies for preserving trade secrets in the international business environment. This paper discusses those strategies, beginning with defining and identifying a company’s trade secrets and the formulation of various policy measures to be taken to protect trade secrets, with emphasis on the risks inherent in the loss of trade secrets when using the Internet and how to eliminate or reduce that risk.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2007

Cynthia M. Gayton

The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of remote surveillance or satellite imagery as they relate to trade secret law, knowledge management, and competitive

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of remote surveillance or satellite imagery as they relate to trade secret law, knowledge management, and competitive intelligence.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper approaches legal issues from the perspective of a trade secret holder.

Findings

While conducting research for this paper, it was found that, while technological improvements relating to satellite imagery and remote sensing are increasingly more precise and ubiquitous, the laws protecting businesses that have an interest in protecting trade secrets are inconsistent. On the one hand, the US Government has given itself a powerful tool to protect trade secrets under the Economic Espionage Act. On the other hand, the Government has granted remote satellite companies licences under which they may sell satellite images to industrial competitors, consequently thwarting trade secret protection efforts

Originality/value

Trade secrets represent a valuable contribution to a nation's economy, particularly when some interventions do not meet the requirements necessary for more traditional intellectual property regime protection (e.g. copyright, trade mark, patents). A trade secret's value lies in it remaining hidden. There are few cases addressing trade secrets and satellite imagery. The stalwart case, E.I. duPont deNemours & Co., Inc. v. Rolfe Christopher, represents a tentative foray into the subject, but only suggests the rights a trade secret holder may have when a commercial satellite company collects otherwise innocuous data and sells those to a competitor. A proper plaintiff to test the boundaries surrounding trade secret law, satellite imagery, and competitive intelligence remains at large.

Details

VINE, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-5728

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2008

Carl J. Pacini, Raymond Placid and Christine Wright‐Isak

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of trade secrets, reasonable steps to preserve secrecy, trade secret value, misappropriation methods used to acquire trade

1728

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of trade secrets, reasonable steps to preserve secrecy, trade secret value, misappropriation methods used to acquire trade secrets, various legal remedies, and internal controls to protect trade secrets.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of types of civil trade secret cases is highlighted. The paper includes a statutory and legal case study analysis of the elements in a civil trade secrets lawsuit. Analysis of actual trade secret court cases illustrates the importance of private civil lawsuits in combating intellectual property fraud.

Findings

This paper shows the serious impact of trade secret espionage on the success and survival of businesses and the necessity of proving each element of a civil claim under state trade secret law. Also, practical steps necessary to protect an entity's trade secrets are discussed.

Practical implications

This paper raises the awareness of executives, managers, internal and external auditors, forensic accountants and other interested parties about the severity of trade secret espionage. Also, this paper highlights numerous steps to protect trade secrets.

Originality/value

This paper fills an identified need to inform those involved in the fight against economic crime about the importance of state trade secret laws and internal controls in the fight against intellectual property fraud.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 50 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1997

David C. Wyld

Looks at the recent US court decision in the case of Pepsico v. Redmond. The case centred on the circumstances of Quaker’s hiring of William Redmond, a former Pepsico marketing…

804

Abstract

Looks at the recent US court decision in the case of Pepsico v. Redmond. The case centred on the circumstances of Quaker’s hiring of William Redmond, a former Pepsico marketing executive, to co‐ordinate the company’s distribution strategy for its newly‐acquired Snapple product line. At issue in the Redmond case was the unique question of whether or not knowledge of corporate strategy could be considered protectable proprietary information under the American incarnation of trade secret law. To understand the setting for the Redmond case, presents a brief overview of trade secret law in the USA. Then, after an examination of the facts and judicial decision in the Redmond case, concludes with a discussion of the implications of this case for marketing strategic decision making and executive recruitment in the post‐Redmond environment.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 August 2016

Anne M. Rector, Bunny Sandefur, Marco Ceccagnoli, Meadow Clendenin and Louise Hallenborg

This chapter provides an overview of the five main modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and designs – available in the…

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the five main modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and designs – available in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. After describing the purposes of and principal differences among the five types of IP protection and outlining the advantages of each form, the chapter provides country- and region-specific information. The authors highlight the aspects of IP law in which international harmonization has, or has not yet, occurred, and offer insights into the relative advantages of various national and regional IP protection systems.

Details

Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-238-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 February 2008

Louise Hallenborg, Marco Ceccagnoli and Meadow Clendenin

This chapter provides an overview of five modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, designs, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets – available in the United…

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of five modes of intellectual property (IP) protection – patents, designs, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets – available in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. After describing the purposes of and principal differences among the five types of IP protection and outlining the advantages of each form, the chapter provides country- and region-specific information. The authors highlight the aspects of IP law in which international harmonization has, or has not yet, occurred, and offer insights into the relative advantages of various national and regional IP protection systems.

Details

Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-532-1

Book part
Publication date: 1 October 2007

Jonathan Putnam

I begin with a dispute over a fox hunt, by which to understand the law of tangible property, then develop that metaphor for the major types of intellectual property. I start with…

Abstract

I begin with a dispute over a fox hunt, by which to understand the law of tangible property, then develop that metaphor for the major types of intellectual property. I start with domestic U.S. patent law for the sake of concreteness, and generalize to other jurisdictions and types of intellectual property. In the latter parts of the paper I discuss the international implications of intellectual property, including especially the effects of information spillovers. The last part of the paper describes the hazards in analogizing “trade” in intellectual property rights to trade in goods, and particularly in interpreting international patent data. These hazards motivate the search for a structural model specially adapted to the purpose of valuing international intellectual property rights and rules. The goal is to give economists a simple and integrated framework for analyzing intellectual property across time, jurisdiction and regime type, with an eye towards eventually developing other incentive systems that have the advantages of property (such as decentralized decision-making), but fewer of the disadvantages.

Details

Intellectual Property, Growth and Trade
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-539-0

Book part
Publication date: 26 February 2008

Stuart J.H. Graham

This chapter suggests that, while researchers and teachers of university technology transfer often think exclusively in terms of patents and the Bayh-Dole Act, we ought to adopt a…

Abstract

This chapter suggests that, while researchers and teachers of university technology transfer often think exclusively in terms of patents and the Bayh-Dole Act, we ought to adopt a more nuanced view of intellectual property rights (IPRs). In the text, I discuss the primary non-patent types of intellectual property (IP) protection, copyright, trademark, and trade secret, and argue that while patents are normally the “default” position when we think about protecting technologies and profiting from them, evidence suggests that patents are among the least important means of capturing value from innovation. Moreover, I suggest that while many consider that IP protections act as substitutes for one another, thinking about IPRs as complements is a more relevant approach to this issue. Adopting this more nuanced view better reflects reality and does a superior job of alerting our audiences to the opportunities available in the technology commercialization process.

Details

Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-532-1

Book part
Publication date: 2 August 2016

Stuart J. H. Graham and Ted S. Sichelman

This chapter provides evidence on how young technology startups are employing intellectual property (IP) protection when innovating and competing in the United States. Although…

Abstract

This chapter provides evidence on how young technology startups are employing intellectual property (IP) protection when innovating and competing in the United States. Although researchers and teachers of university technology transfer often think only in terms of patents and the Bayh-Dole Act, this chapter suggests that adopting a more nuanced view of IP rights is appropriate. After reviewing the primary non-patent types of IP protection available in the U.S. (copyright, trademark, and trade secret), we explain that while patents are often considered the strongest protection, for some entrepreneurs – particularly those operating in the U.S. software and Internet sectors – patents may be the least important means of capturing value from innovation. We present evidence from the 2008 Berkeley Patent Survey to demonstrate that IP is used by U.S. startups in very different ways, and to different effects, across technology sectors and other company-specific characteristics. Contrary to the common assumption in academic discourse, we show that different forms of IP protection often serve as complements, rather than substitutes.

Details

Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-238-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1982

J.R. Carby‐Hall

‘There is widespread concern in the country about the way in which trade unions are run” said Mr. Norman Tebbitt when introducing the Government's Green Paper on democracy in trade

Abstract

‘There is widespread concern in the country about the way in which trade unions are run” said Mr. Norman Tebbitt when introducing the Government's Green Paper on democracy in trade unions. He went on to say that “… public opinion have clearly shown the strong feeling that trade unions ought to be democratic institutions responsive to the views and wishes of their members.” He explained these statements by showing that in many cases the union executive fails to ballot its members on such major decisions as the choice of the leadership and the calling of industrial action. He talked of “… dubious decisions” being taken on a show of hands at mass meetings of workers “sometimes packed with outsiders;” of “… secret meetings at which unrepresentative minorities plot the trade union elections…” so that positions of power are held by persons who are unrepresentative of the majority.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

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