Is your secret recipe really a secret? Using trade secrets to protect confidential information

WRITTEN BY CANDACE LYNN BELL

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our master distiller has been hard at work on a new formulation for a gin that she is certain will be special. Your new whisky, which had a little something extra added, is winning awards. Your original bourbon is still garnering rave reviews for its undefinable complexity. If you have been lucky enough to be in one of these enviable positions, the most likely reason is something unique to your product’s creation, whether it is part of the process or an ingredient or several ingredients. That something unique is critical to your business success and you want to protect it, but how? It is not your brand so trademark law will not help, nor is it your label, so copyright law will not help. But what it may be is your company’s trade secret and if you take certain steps to protect it as a trade secret, you may have created another intellectual property asset in which your company has protectable rights.

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