This paper explores whether the U.S. Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) increased the declaration of trade secrets. Leveraging cross-sectoral variation in the importance of trade secrets prior to the DTSA, empirical results show that the DTSA was followed by an increase in the intensive margin of...

We investigate whether family ownership is associated with a preference for patents or trade secrets. Using a sample of S&P 500 firms, we show that family ownership is negatively associated with patenting and positively associated with the usage of trade secrets. We further show that both...

We investigate whether strengthened legal protection of trade secrets increases the likelihood of a firm being acquired. Stronger protection can make a firm more attractive for acquisition due to better safeguarding of trade secrets, but it may also increase information asymmetries that...

The Latin America IP SME Helpdesk offers multilingual services (English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese), with free information and first-line legal advice on IP related subjects, as well as training, webinars and publications, especially designed for EU SMEs.

The Latin America IP SME Helpdesk offers multilingual services (English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese), with free information and first-line legal advice on IP related subjects, as well as training, webinars and publications, especially designed for EU SMEs.

In examining the staggered recognition of the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD) as an exogenous shock to trade secret protection, we demonstrate that firms display lower stock returns following the recognition in a difference-in-differences (DID) design. Cross-sectional regression results...

Almost every business owns proprietary information that adds value and provides a competitive advantage because the information is not known to the business's competitors. Trade secret law protects such information from theft or unauthorized disclosure. Because one of the principal policies...

Trade secrets are valuable intellectual property rights that protect confidential information acquired through purchase or licensing. Their value lies in their confidentiality, known only to a limited group, and the owner must take reasonable measures to maintain secrecy. Trade secrets encompass...

This entry in the online Global Dictionary of Competition Law defines the term trade secret: information that has commercial value to an organization due to its secrecy, is not known outside of the organization, and the continuing secrecy of which the organization has taken reasonable measures...

Like other forms of intellectual property (IP), trade secret value may arise from two primary sources. The first is proprietary competitive advantage gained through use of the IP coupled with the right to exclude others from such use. The second is by monetizing IP directly through licensing to...

As the knowledge economy expanded and concerns about trade secret misappropriation mounted in the digital age, federal policymakers undertook efforts to reinforce trade secret protection a decade ago. These efforts came to fruition with passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA)....

1. Book Reference Terms, Definitions and Cases -- 2. Why Business Secrets is or should be a concern for companies? -- 3. Confidential Information as Business Secret -- 4. Business Secrets increase asset value -- 5. Protecting Business Secrets to improve value creation -- 6. Contractual...

Das Handbuch für sämtliche Facetten des digitalen Wirtschaftsrechts Die Digitalisierung durchdringt sämtliche Bereiche des Wirtschaftsrechts - von virtuellen und hybriden Versammlungen über Haftungsfragen der Geschäftsleitung bis hin zu digitalen M&A-Prozessen, aktuellem digitalen Banking...

This paper discusses the overlap and interaction between patents and trade secrets in the United Kingdom, with relevant comparisons to United States law. It considers the use of trade secrets protection as an alternative or complement to patent protection

This paper studies firms’ information withholding in a mandatory environmental disclosure regime where regulators only allow firms to withhold information regarded as a trade secret. I find evidence of withholding information for reasons other than proprietary-cost concerns, which is...

This article examines whether and to what extent the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) affects technology spillovers between focal firms (i.e., receivers of spillovers) and peers (i.e., senders of spillovers). I find that technology spillovers from peers located in states adopting the UTSA are...

This article examines whether and to what extent the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) affects technology spillovers between focal firms (i.e., receivers of spillovers) and peers (i.e., senders of spillovers). I find that technology spillovers from peers located in states adopting the UTSA are...

The framework for a successful franchise relationship governs procedures, performance, and standards. The franchisor agrees to lend, in effect, its intellectual property and guidance, among other things, in exchange for the franchisee’s royalties and other payments. Before entering into an...

Family firms are known for their reluctance to invest in research and development. We show that strengthened trade secret protection is associated with higher R&D investment by family firms. More specifically, we show that the association between the strength of trade secret protection through...

Law-abiding firms often attempt to conceal their corporate political activity (CPA), yet the concealment of CPA has not been matched by our understanding of the phenomenon. We develop a theoretical framework consisting of three components to analyze firms’ strategy of CPA concealment. First,...

Trade secrets encompass manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. The unauthorised use of such information by people other than the holder is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret.