What Is a Trade Secret?

Attorney L. Reed Bloodworth is the managing partner of Bloodworth Law with offices in  Orlando, Florida, and Winter Haven, Florida.

Bloodworth Law handles business litigation disputes that arise over the protection, the ownership and theft of trade secrets.

What is a Trade Secret?

Reed explains that a trade secret is information created to offer a competitive advantage that is unknown to competitors. What is a trade secret? A trade secret holds these characteristics:

• It is secret.
• It must be difficult to replicate.
• It confers a competitive business advantage to its owner.
• The owner must make reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
• The company uses resources to further develop it.

What Qualifies as a Trade Secret in Florida?

In Florida, important trade secrets include customer and supplier lists, marketing plans, financial information, brand recipes, scientific processes, pricing strategies, engineering tactics, and customer profiles.

Trade secrets can also include algorithms, computer codes, designs, devices, formulas, instruments, methods, and processes.

Some trade secrets have been able to be exempted from disclosure under Florida’s sunshine laws. This is important, because when a company submits documents to a state agency, they may have to identify information that qualifies as a trade secret.

The Uniform Trade Secrets Act

Florida is among states that signed the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The act was created to set clear, uniform national standards for trade secrets and to protect companies’ and individuals’ innovative ideas.

It’s imperative that business owners know how to protect trade secrets. So, before you expose your work or discoveries, consider meeting with an experienced business litigation attorney to find out which laws will protect your creations.

Attorney L. Reed Bloodworth is the managing partner of Bloodworth Law in Florida. If you have questions about trade secrets, give Reed a call so that you can talk about how Bloodworth Law can help you, your family or your business.