The media is often quite active in trying to unseal trade secret documents under the auspices of the "public interest." To protect trade secrets in a case with potential media scrutiny, a manufacturer must consider what assertions the media may make, how to counter those assertions, and will also need to seek to avail itself of additional possible protections, such as having documents returned, by agreement or with the court’s support, after their use in the proceedings, or possible stipulations of non-secret facts to avoid filing the documents initially. Of course, the public nature of a trial or court hearing will make for heightened conflicts when media scrutiny is present. This case study sustains the blanket protective order method of protecting trade secrets, but with several cautionary twists and turns.
