Most inventors instinctively understand the value of keeping their technology secret.
Their main concern is that others, learning of the technology, will beat them to the marketplace. The law has long recognized the need for businesses to protect confidential information that has commercial value. These trade secrets have been viewed as a property right or as an obligation imposed on the recipient of the confidential information. Courts have viewed trade secret rights broadly and have recognized trade secret rights in technical data, manufacturing processes, customer lists, engineering designs, etc. Much of the case law is concerned with the circumstances surrounding the receipt of the allegedly confidential information.