From a corporate newsletter where I work.  This a

From a corporate newsletter where I work.  This applies to the whole "why isn't the JBI secret catalyst patented" debate ...

Trade Secrets are different from the other major types of Intellectual Property (IP) protection (e.g., Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks) because there is no federal scheme of registration or protection. There is no official document with a nifty gold seal and red ribbon. There is no official database to establish chain of title. It is one of the oldest forms of intellectual property protection, enforced through common law and some state statutes.

By definition, a Trade Secret is information that has economic value to the owner because it is a secret, and is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. Secret information can include formulas, patterns, compilations of data, software programs, devices/machines, methods, techniques, or processes. The classic example of a Trade Secret is the formula to Coca-Cola® and the legendary steps the Coca-Cola Company takes to protect the formula. We may not have any famous Trade Secrets, but Trade Secrets are still important to us.

One important distinction for Trade Secrets is that they can be kept in perpetuity – they remain a Trade Secret as long as the owner can maintain secrecy. If Coca-Cola had patented their secret formula in 1886, the formula would have been published for the world to see. In 1903 when the patent expired, anybody could practice their method of preparing a tasty, refreshing beverage. By maintaining the formula as a secret, Coca-Cola has enjoyed an economic value in their celebrated secret formula for over 125 years. Whenever our company invents something that cannot be easily discovered or reverse engineered, such as internal workflows or software used to provide services to customers, Trade Secrets provide business advantages that may outlive the fixed time period of a Patent.

Another advantage is that Trade Secrets can protect things that are not eligible for protection under any other IP protection scheme. A collection of data is typically not eligible for copyright protection because it is not considered a creative work. However, collecting data, and our ability to analyze and draw practical conclusions about data, is opening up new sources of revenue for us. Similarly, abstract math formulas, methods, and techniques are not patentable subject matter; but these formulas and methods are important to our ability to provide analytics and actuarial services to our customers.

It is the responsibility of all our people to protect our Trade Secrets. ... Finally, don’t be disappointed when your invention disclosure is designated as a Trade Secret – we want to keep the best technology for ourselves.