"If I told you, I would be giving you the keys to the enterprise": Unpacking Trade Secrets

From Idea to Intellectual Property

“If I told you, I would be giving you the keys to the enterprise.”

When we think about intellectual property assets, trade secrets don’t typically make their way into the conversation, with more attention given to well-recognised assets like patents and trade marks. However, multi-million-dollar and billion-dollar enterprises tell us a different story. In 2018, a survey conducted by the USA’s National Science Foundation revealed that trade secrets ranked number one as the most valued of the IP suite.

Trade secrets can cover the operations and details outside the realm of patents and trade marks, and can be crucial to a business's competitive advantage. In an increasingly leaky world, with cyber incidents near constantly in the headlines, protecting trade secrets is more important than ever, and it’s no wonder these assets are shrouded in conspiracy theories.

In this episode of From Idea to Intellectual Property, IPH Strategic Advisor and former Director-General of WIPO, Dr Francis Gurry, unpacks the ins and outs of trade secrets and their extensive history in influencing global markets.