Re: Software application copyright opinion

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "GaryG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>"R. Kaushik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> 2. Can any part of the application or the whole application be claimed
>> to be trade secret that I am not supposed to use anywhere outside?
>
>Did you sign a non-compete or trade secret agreement with your previous
>employer?  If not, no worries.

Again, bad advice.  A signed agreement is not necessary for trade
secret protection, although it is helpful for making it clear that
certain things are trade secrets.

There are two things necessary for something to be a trade secret --
1.  There must be independent economic value derived from the the
    information not being generally known.
2.  Efforts reasonable under the circumstances have been used to
    keep it a secret.

Restricting non-employees from accessing the source of the original
program might be enough to protect it as a trade secret in some
circumstances.  The absence of a signed agreement certainly doesn't
mean that it can't be a trade secret.

No online book references this time.  The chapter on trade secrets
will be in the second edition, in about a year.