Independent Economic Value
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
Trade secret law requires that information, along with being kept secret, derive a certain degree of economic value due to being kept secret. Under United States trade secret law, information claimed as a trade secret must derive ‘independent economic value, actual or potential,’ from not being generally known or readily ascertainable using proper means to others who could themselves obtain economic value from the information. This ‘independent economic value’ language appears in both the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), passed in 2016, and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), which was drafted in 1979, amended in 1985 and has now been adopted in some iteration by all states except New York. This entry focuses on US trade secret law, but these rules and general principles are relevant to interpreting international laws as well. Other nations’ trade secret laws have been heavily influenced by US trade secret law and reference very similar concepts to independent economic value. Article 39 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides that member nations must, at a minimum, protect secret information that, in relevant part, has ‘commercial value because it is secret.’ The EU Trade Secrets Directive likewise contains a requirement that a trade secret ‘have commercial value because it is secret.’ China’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law also references a requirement of ‘commercial value.’
Publication Title
The Encyclopedia of Intellectual Property Law
Recommended Citation
Hrdy, Camilla Alexandra, "Independent Economic Value" (2023). Akron Law Faculty Publications. 342.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/ua_law_publications/342
Comments
Editors:
Elgar, Eds. Irini Stamatoudi, Peter Yu, Bernd Justin Jütte, and Paul Torremans