Editing Trade secret (section)

== Misappropriation ==

In general, trade secret misappropriation occurs when someone improperly acquires, discloses, or uses a trade secret without the trade secret holder's consent.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2018-04-25 |title=Trade Secret Infringement & Potential Legal Defenses |url=https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/trade-secrets/infringement/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212030817/https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/trade-secrets/infringement/ |archive-date=2024-12-12 |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Justia |language=en |quote="If a person or entity discloses or publishes a trade secret while knowing it was improperly obtained, or by inducing someone to improperly obtain it, misappropriation exists."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2022-06-07 |title=The existence and misappropriation of trade secrets |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/existence-misappropriation-trade-secrets-2022-06-07/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=Reuters |quote="There are three main avenues for establishing misappropriation of a trade secret: unauthorized acquisition, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized use of the trade secret."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation - Part V: Trade secrets in litigation |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/wipo-guide-to-trade-secrets-and-innovation/en/part-v-trade-secrets-in-litigation.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827130658/https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/wipo-guide-to-trade-secrets-and-innovation/en/part-v-trade-secrets-in-litigation.html |archive-date=2024-08-27 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation |language=en |quote="When trade secret information is used without authorization of the trade secret holders, this is called 'misappropriation' and those who carry out the misappropriation are called 'misappropriators'... The basic idea of prohibiting others from securing unfair commercial advantage by acquiring, using or disclosing trade secrets of another person in a wrongful manner is expressed in national laws in different ways. However, in essence, when the acquisition, disclosure or use of the information covered by the trade secret protection occurs by unlawful, improper, dishonest or unfair means, it is generally deemed to be misappropriation."}}</ref> Common scenarios include former employees taking proprietary data to a new employer in violation of [[Non-disclosure agreement|non-disclosure agreements]] (NDAs), espionage, or unauthorized disclosure.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation - Part V: Trade secrets in litigation |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/wipo-guide-to-trade-secrets-and-innovation/en/part-v-trade-secrets-in-litigation.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":02" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=trade secret |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trade_secret |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref>

To prove misappropriation, the trade secret holder must generally show—subject to the specific requirements of the applicable jurisdiction—that:

* the misappropriated information matches the trade secret,<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation - Part V: Trade secrets in litigation |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/wipo-guide-to-trade-secrets-and-innovation/en/part-v-trade-secrets-in-litigation.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |date=2018-04-25 |title=Trade Secret Infringement & Potential Legal Defenses |url=https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/trade-secrets/infringement/ |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=Justia |language=en}}</ref> and
* the unlawful, improper, or dishonest methods used by the misappropriator, such as breaching confidentiality agreements, violating duties of confidentiality arising from special relationships (e.g., employer-employee), engaging in industrial espionage, hacking, coercion, or inducing others to breach their confidentiality obligations.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":22" />