Trade Secret Valuation
Did you know every time you take a bite of Kentucky Fried Chicken that you are taking a bite out of a trade secret? When you wash down that chicken with a Coca-Cola, you are drinking a trade secret. Trade secrets are everywhere. Without trade secrets, restaurant food could potentially taste the same!
A trade secret is information that provides a business with a competitive advantage. Trade secrets can entail formulas; patterns, plans, and designs; physical devices, processes, and know-hows. Unlike patent information, trade secret information doesn’t have to be disclosed to the public. Protection of a trade secret could potentially last forever, as long as the secret is kept. Chances are that you’ll never be able to get your hands on that Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe or the Coca-Cola soft drink ingredients.
At Pellegrino & Associates, we determine the impact of competitors on the useful life of your trade secret. We establish how much time it would take to reverse engineer your invention without assistance of knowledge, which greatly affects the value of your product. We research the length of time it took to originate the trade secret and how this impacts the overall product or service value. This is just a sampling of what we can do to ensure you receive the best value opinion in the industry.
Trade secrets receive no federal protection. Instead, they are protected by state, where laws vary. At Pellegrino & Associates, we make it our job to understand trade secret laws in each state because we know the value difference each state can have on your product. We also know that good trade secret protection is key in preserving value. Companies with loose employee agreements, loose security procedures around their trade secrets, and loose IP ownership clauses put the value of their trade secrets at risk. We encourage companies to use non-disclosure and non-compete agreements to protect their trade secrets.
Interested in learning more? Contact us to see how we can help.
