A trade secret comes under the heading of automatic protection in Australia.
Trade secrets such as confidential information, secret recipes and formulas, production methods and processes are not registered.
A trade secret is considered to be proprietary knowledge.
You must protect that knowledge yourself.
How do you do that?
Usually by ensuring that your staff or distributors sign Confidentiality Agreements.
Coca Cola never applied for patent protection which means that they never had to disclose their secret formula. Instead they used Trade Secrets to protect their IP.
Trade Secret Limitations
Someone else may invent the same product or process independently and exploit it commercially.
Trade secrets are difficult to maintain over a long time or when many people know the secret.
Trade Secrets does not give you exclusive rights and you are vulnerable when employees with this knowledge leave your firm.
When contractors and staff leave, you should ask them to provide written undertakings that they will not compete with your business after they leave, in addition to signing a confidentiality agreement. It’s usually much easier to prove competition than breach of confidentiality.
Examples of trade secrets include:
- The recipe for Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has used trade secrets to keep its formula from becoming public for decades.
- The recipe for KFC
We can help with looking after all your IP needs including in New Zealand and other countries where you may need protection.