Michael D. Moberly – October 20, 2023
Trade secrecy assertions include obligations that warrant recognition and execution in advance.
Trade secrecy assertions by a business, as well as pursuing other IP, are prudent (pre)requisites for soliciting as well as receiving investment consideration.
Assertions of trade secrecy presume the declarer is the (legitimate) originator, developer, and holder to the rights which exclusivity is being sought.
I encourage those trade secrecy assertions include framing the unique content and its economic benefits (warranting trade secrecy) emerge from specific forms, contexts, and/or applications of…
- intellectual capital (knowledge, knowhow) and/or
- structural capital (processes, procedures, methods, techniques, method, formula, program, procedure, or design).
Doing this, I find, provides relevance and straightforwardness for innovators to address the following obligatory questions in contexts which are defensible which also substantiate – legitimize the requisites to trade secrecy…
- clarity of uniqueness to whom, how, where, and when, e.g., circumstances, conditions, situations, and/or stipulations, etc.
- clarity of economic value, e.g., attractivity, desirability, need, demand, use, etc. of-for that which is asserted as being a ‘trade secret’ that stems from – is sustainable from/by retaining its secrecy.
- clarity of secrecy and heretofore, unknown, i.e., what specifically is being asserted as a trade secret is demonstrably ‘not known to persons’ who are generally involved in, e.g., hold various levels of expertise regarding, information of this type’.
- clarity of safeguards and risk mitigation obligations necessary to sustain secrecy specific to this assertion.
- clarity of artificial intelligence affecting elements, requisites, assertions, legitimacy, and defensibility for this specific assertion of trade secrecy, e.g., if, when, can, how, and/or already has.
Objective, affirmative, fact-based responses to each question above can level-headedly position (trade secret) holders defenses against and/or serve as general deterrents to targeted reputational – misinformation risks.
Each post @ ‘Business Intangible Asset Blog’ is experientially researched, authored, and produced by Michael D. Moberly, principle-founder of kpstrat, to provide readers with reliable perspectives and nuanced insights to business things intangible as a business intangible asset strategist and risk mitigator.
