What is the difference between trade secrets and trade secrets infringement?

Trade secrets and trade secrets infringement are two different legal terms related to business law. Trade secrets refer to information that has been given to a business for use in its operations. This includes processes, formulas, designs, recipes, procedures, or similar information that a business may have exclusive rights to, and that gives the business an advantage over its competitors. Trade secrets infringement is when someone illegally obtains or uses that trade secret information without authorization. An example of trade secrets infringement might be if someone reverse-engineered a product and then gave the design information to another company. In Washington, trade secrets laws seek to protect businesses from the misuse or theft of their confidential information. There are both civil and criminal laws in place to discourage trade secrets infringement. Civil law means trade secrets owners may sue those who are believed to have stolen or misused their information. There are also criminal laws in place that allow for fines and jail time for those convicted of illegally obtaining trade secrets. Therefore, the key difference between trade secrets and trade secrets infringement is that trade secrets are confidential information owned by a business, while trade secrets infringement is the illegal use or acquisition of that information.

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What is the difference between trade secrets and trade secrets infringement?

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