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ARTICLE · 04 JULY 2014

Next-Generation Manufacturing Should Place Greater Emphasis on Trade Secret Concerns

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Recent testimony in support of this legislation offers a good example of why a set of enhanced and uniformed laws for the protection of trade secrets is important.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Foley & Lardner
Foley & Lardner
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Picking up on our discussion last week about the pending Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2014, recent testimony by Eli Lilly's Vice President and General Patent Counsel, Douglas K. Norman in support of this legislation offers a good example of why a set of enhanced and uniformed laws for the protection of trade secrets in the United States is especially important for fostering the next generation of manufacturing in this country.

Advances in next generation manufacturing are already changing the landscape of how products are developed, manufactured, and brought to market. Fewer products will be manufactured by large-scale assembly lines of people centralized in countries with the lowest labor costs, and instead more products will be manufactured by advanced robotics, 3D printing, nanotechnology, and other next generation technologies.

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