SUMMER 2018 TODAY’S GENER AL COUNSEL
Intellectual Property
Integrating Trade Secrets into a Comprehensive IP Strategy By John Tanski and Jason Murata
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any companies implement policies to protect their patent and copyright assets; but too often trade secrets, estimated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to constitute as much as 80 percent of a company’s value, are given scant attention. Although there is a web of federal and state trade secret laws, a fundamental requirement for protection under all
of them is that reasonable measures be taken to safeguard these valuable assets. Showing that a business has a protection policy, and that it is followed, can therefore be powerful evidence in establishing the required elements of a misappropriation claim. Identifying Your Trade Secrets Companies that conduct R&D often
have a patentability procedure. The procedure typically involves identifying potentially patentable inventions, determining whether protection should be sought, protecting the invention while any patent application is pending and rewarding inventors for their patents. This type of process accomplishes several valuable objectives. It encourages inventors to bring their discoveries to the