Milton Springut
Two forms of intellectual property—patents and trade secrets—are used to protect technological innovations. Common wisdom is that businesses must choose one or the other, because patents and trade secrets have conflicting requirements. While that is largely the case, it is possible to simultaneously use both forms of protection, if the business carefully and strategically manages the use of each to protect its position.
A recent Federal Circuit decision Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions v. Renesas Electronics. America (Fed. Cir. 2018) (the TAOS case), involved both the assertion of patent and trade secret claims, both of which were directed to the same technology. The court’s detailed decision highlights both strategies to simultaneous use patent and trade secret law, and limitations on each of the IP rights.
