Trade secrets, just as other intellectual property rights, can
be extremely valuable to a company's growth and sometimes even
critical for its survival. Businesses must ensure that they
adequately protect their business processes, technical know-how and
confidential information from competitors. A trade secret may refer
to a practice, process, design, instrument or a compilation of data
or information relating to the business which is not generally
known to the public and which the owner reasonably attempts to keep
secret and confidential. Such data or information may also involve
an economic interest of the owner in obtaining an economic
advantage over competitors.
The precise language by which a trade secret is defined may
differ, however there are three factors, which can be said to be
common to all such definitions. They are -
