justification - Answer justifications are variously focused upon the activities of the
creator of an intangible asset, its would-be user, and the community in which the
creator operates
importance - Answer creates incentives by providing exclusivity
competition - Answer property rights in information reduce competition temporarily that
could otherwise increase availability and keep prices low for consumers
capturing - Answer once something is put into the public domain, one cannot apply for
intellectual property right to recapture
Trade Secret any knowledge or information with economic value from not being
generally known to others or readily ascertainable by proper means and has been the
subject of reasonable efforts by the owner to maintain secrecy
Characteristics of a trade secret? economically valuable, don't have to be unique, do
not expire
To misappropriate a trade secret, one must _____________ the information - Answer
misappropriate
,Uniform Trade Secrets Act - Answer the majority of the states adopted in order to
protect trade secrets; need to prove that there is a secret that had efforts of being kept
and someone misappropriated and stole the secret, need to prove that the secret was
valuable to the business
T/F: For a trade secret to be protected it must be unique. -Answer false
For establishing the existence of a trade secret -Answer conduct a trade secret audit to
identify confidential knowledge-based resources
Identify ways in which secrecy of a trade secret may be preserved -Answer lock written
material, secure computer-stored knowledge with firewalls and encryption, impose
confidentiality restrictions, control visitors, have anyone dealing with the secret sign a
nondisclosure agreement
T/F: There is no expiration date for trade secrets - True; they exist until discovery or loss
Al Minor Associates vs. Martin - Issue: Martin was an employee of the AMA and decided
to start his own business while still working there. Upon leaving, he used the same
customer list as did the AMA; he memorized the list, he didn't print it
holding- the court decided that there was no distinction between memorizing and
printing out the list and Martin had breached keeping a trade secret
showing misappropriation - Answer when one improperly acquires or discloses
confidential information
___________ ________ and _______ ___________ are excluded upon showing of
misappropriation - Answer independent creation and reverse engineering
independent creation - Answer if two people came up with the same idea independently/
recreate the same information that one considers to be a trade secret, it is not
misappropriation
reverse engineering - Answer looking at a product and figuring out how it works or how
it is formulated is not misappropriation only if it is not patented
, T/F: innocently acquiring information is considered misappropriation of a trade secret -
Answer false
employee mobility and trade secrets - Answer confidentiality contract forbids
employees from disclosing knowledge obtained in the workplace
T/F: employers can enforce agreements between former employees not to compete only
when there is a valid business purpose for the contract - Answer true
examples of things companies with trade secrets may not allow - Answer carry or use of
cell phones while on-premises, USB/flash media on-premises, personal or company
assigned laptop computers, ability to leave premises with any documentation obtained
during meetings or notes derived during a meeting
T/F: many times data must only be stored by human memory - Answer true
document markings - Documents produced should have sufficient "markings" to identify
what is a trade secret or information requiring protection
examples of document markings - Answer slide proprietary information, not cleared for
public release, for official use only, competition sensitive
patent law - Grants inventors the right to prevent others from manufacturing, using, or
selling products that infringe the patented invention during the patented period of time
patents are considered a _____ ________ for a period of time - Answer legal monopoly
who grants patents? - Answer US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)
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