What is it that makes Coca-Cola different from other similar drinks? What is it that makes the Colonel’s chicken seasoning so special? Those are trade secrets the firms go to great lengths to protect. In the case of the recipe for Coca-Cola’s syrup, it is alleged that no more than two employees ever know the recipe at one time. As for KFC, they guard the recipe in a vault and split the production of the seasoning between different factories to avoid the whole combination being known.
Both businesses have made huge amounts of money by protecting their trade secrets and, to an extent, by promoting their recipes as trade secrets.
Not everything is a trade secret
If you wish to argue that a particular piece of information is a trade secret for your business, you’ll need to show there is a financial importance of keeping it that way and a cost of not doing so.
You’ll also need to show you made sufficient effort to protect your secret. While you might not need to go to the extremes that Coca-Cola and KFC do, a significant effort will be required. Don’t, for example, share the information with your whole workforce or publish the information in a place that people can freely access.
Finally, you’ll need to show that it is not public information. If it turns out there are others out there who already know the thing you are claiming is exclusive to your business, then your claim to it being your trade secret may be dismissed. For example, if your secret sauce recipe turns out to be the same recipe used by a host of grandmothers in your grandmother’s village rather than being one that only she knew.
This can be a difficult area to understand and get right, so you may want guidance to give yourself the best chance of protecting what you consider to be your trade secrets.