USPTO to Conduct Trade Secret Symposium
Contributed by Oblon. Originally published on Patexia; republished here as part of the LexDana archive.
In tomorrow's Federal Register, the USPTO is announcing a public symposium on issues relevant to the protection of trade secrets, and to assess recent developments such as the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). The symposium will be held on May 8, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT.
Under U.S. law, trade secrets comprise commercially valuable information not generally known or readily ascertainable to the public, that are subject to reasonable measures to maintain confidentiality. In May 2016, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) established a federal private civil cause of action for the misappropriation of a trade secret, with the aim to provide businesses with a uniform, reliable and predictable way to protect their valuable trade secrets anywhere in the country. Given this legislation and the continuing domestic and international attention to trade secrets, the USPTO symposium will discuss: (1) Measuring the Value of Secrecy; (2) Use of the DTSA in Practice; (3) Differences in Trade Secret Protection in Foreign Jurisdictions; and (4) Considerations of Business Owners in International Cases. Experts from academia, private legal practice, international organizations, and industry will serve as panelists.
Scott A. McKeown is an author of the Patents Post Grant.
More insights
Does the Uspto Issue Secret Patents on Aerospace Innovations
Written by : Tom Cowan Key Takeaways : Despite periodic mentions by aerospace innovators of “secret patents,” this author is not aware of any evidence of such patents. There may be confusion with “Secrecy Orders,” which apply to…
Patexia Patent Insight 20: Patent Issuance Levels Hold Steady Through 2025
Raw numbers often say more than commentary. In patent prosecution, issuance data provides one of the clearest signals of how much innovative activity is actually making its way through the system. Unlike filings, which can reflect short-term strategy…
Life Science Considerations on the Uspto S New Guidelines for Ai Assisted Inventorship
Written by : Robert J. Hilton, Ph.D. and Susan M. Janicki, Ph.D. On November 26, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued revised guidelines for determining inventorship of AI-assisted inventions, [1] which is a significant…