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Dreyfuss, Rochelle C.; Strandburg, Katherine J. --- "Introduction" [2011] ELECD 541; in Dreyfuss, C. Rochelle; Strandburg, J. Katherine (eds), "The Law and Theory of Trade Secrecy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: The Law and Theory of Trade Secrecy

Editor(s): Dreyfuss, C. Rochelle; Strandburg, J. Katherine

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847208996

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Dreyfuss, Rochelle C.; Strandburg, Katherine J.

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Introduction
Rochelle C. Dreyfuss and Katherine J. Strandburg


Surveys of the creative sector repeatedly demonstrate that innovators
regard trade secrecy as one of their most important information manage-
ment strategies. Surprisingly, however, there has been relatively little aca-
demic writing in this area. The reasons why are telling, for they shed light
on the issues with which the chapters in this volume deal.
The absence of a deep literature may, in fact, be overdetermined.
Thus, one reason for the absence of a robust scholarship is that the legal
landscape is difficult to evaluate. The major intellectual property regimes
(patent, trademark and copyright law) are based on federal statutes,
making both the legislation and case law easy to collect, survey, and cat-
egorize. But because trade secrecy is largely a creature of state law (and
until recently, mostly state common law), it is less available as a target for
doctrinal analysis. Nor is trade secrecy appealing to empiricists. After all,
the hallmark of the legal strategy is secrecy. Thus there is little data with
which to work: there are no registries of trade secrets and few available
indicators of their economic significance. In contrast, the patent system
gives economists and lawyers a vast trove of information to study.
Even more importantly, trade secrecy lacks a central theoretical organ-
izing principle. In a sense, trade secrecy functions as an umbrella cover-
ing a variety of distinct concerns. Promoting honest business practices
is one clear theme. Other concerns involve the relationships between a
...