You may have heard of the term trade secret but are unsure what it means. Until 2018, the UK had no legal definition of a trade secret. Therefore, \u2018confidential information\u2019 describes the information we now call a trade secret. However, trade secrets are important to your business, as you likely have information you do not want competitors to know. This article will explain a trade secret and how to protect your business\u2019 trade secrets and other commercially sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In UK law, a piece of legislation called The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018 regulates trade secrets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A trade secret is information held by a business which:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most businesses are likely to have trade secrets<\/a>. For example, information about how you run your business, who your customers are, and specific secret formulae or procedures used to create your products or services are all your business\u2019 trade secrets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the UK, the definition of a trade secret is very broad. Most businesses will have trade secrets, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some well-known examples of trade secrets include the exact recipe for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, the recipe for the Scottish drink Irn Bru, and the formula for WD-40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are court cases that give us guidance on this term. In these cases, non-disclosure agreements with employees were considered evidence of a \u2018reasonable step\u2019 in ensuring confidentiality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is because it ensured that one could only access confidential information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, you should implement non-disclosure agreements to protect trade secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\nExamples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What Does it Mean to \u201cTake Reasonable Steps\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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