Introduction

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

I. INTRODUCTION

If asked for an example of a trade secret, the average layperson would likely answer: the Coca-Cola formula. And he would be right. The term "trade secret" rightly conjures images of secret recipes, locked file cabinets, retinal scans and top secret manufacturing methods. The concept of a "trade secret," however, is a moving target, constantly evolving and resistant to bright line definition due to ever-changing technology and the varied nature of confidential business information and intangible assets businesses strive to protect.¹ To be sure, a trade secret may consist of information that provides the owner with a competitive business advantage.² Depending on the surrounding facts, it may consist of only a customer list which its owner took great effort to establish, keeps confidential, and which adds material value to his business and future revenue. In other cases, however, it may be an algorithm, a recipe, or a methodology, as was the case for Bimbo Bakeries and the coveted "nooks and crannies" of Thomas' English Muffins that helped generate more than $500 million in annual sales.³

In the past decade or so, there has been a heightened awareness of the importance of trade secret protection in the United States.⁴ It has been estimated that 80% of corporate assets are intangible, and the majority are comprised of trade secrets.⁵ The primary target of corporate theft is no longer actual currency, but rather the valuable...