Trade Secrets Business competitors are sometimes victims of industrial espionage that takes the form of theft of business ideas and methods. Trade secret protection is a sturdy shield against such tactics. A trade secret is an idea or information that has commercial value because it is not widely known. Trade secrets are protected primarily by the laws of the several states. Protection is available against anyone who steals the secret or uses it without permission.
Many states have criminal statutes outlawing theft of trade secrets.
However, applicable copyight or patent laws may preempt use of a reverse engineering discovery. An example of trade secrecy law at works involves the ever-growing market for computer software. A number of software characteristics may be protected as trade secrets. In another well-known trade secret case, the DuPont Company had begun to construct a chemical plant in Beaumont, Texas. Equipment used in DuPont's secret process for making methanol was placed in the buildings under construction.