How do you identify trade secrets?

When it comes to trade secrets, Texas law identifies them as information or a method or process that provides an economic advantage to a business that has kept it confidential. In order to qualify as a trade secret, the information must not be generally known or readily ascertainable and must be subject to reasonable steps to maintain its confidentiality. The specific characteristics of a trade secret can differ depending on the type of business or industry. Common trade secrets may include formulas, methods, processes, designs, drawings, techniques, customer lists, processes, business plans, or other types of confidential information. All of these must provide a business with some economic advantage and must be actively protected from being revealed to the public or competitors. In order to identify a trade secret, one must determine if the information was not generally known or readily ascertainable, and if reasonable steps have been taken to keep it confidential. The owner of the trade secret must have taken deliberate steps to ensure the trade secret is kept safe and not revealed to the public. Once the owner of the trade secret can show reasonable steps to protect the secret, then it can most likely be classified as a trade secret.

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