What is a trade secret?

Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that helps to protect confidential information not available to the public. In Washington, trade secrets are protected by state law, which was made to stop the misappropriation or wrongful use of proprietary information. Trade secrets are considered to be any kind of information, such as a formula, pattern, process, device, compilation of information, or trade secret methods, that have economic value because they are not generally known, and are subject to reasonable measures taken to keep them secret. For an example, a company could have a secret formula for a certain product that they don’t disclose to anyone outside of the company in an effort to protect it. Under Washington law, trade secrets can be confidential information, engineering drawings, formulas, patterns, procedures, methods, or manufacturing processes, with economic value that have been kept secret. Being the owner of a trade secret, you have exclusive legal rights and can pursue financial damages if anyone unauthorized discloses or uses the trade secret.

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