In This Chapter

Your invention may have a trade secret associated with it—that is, a plan or process, tool, mechanism, or compound known only to you and your partners and/or employees to whom it is necessary to confide it.

A company’s trade secrets are its crown jewels. Trade secrets are not patented because, by doing so, they would no longer be secret and the owner would lose any competitive business advantage the secret afforded.

Arguably the most celebrated and legendary trade secret is the Coca-Cola formula. When people refer to it, they mean the ingredient called 7X, a mixture of fruit oils and spices that gives the syrup its signature flavor. It is very important to the Coca-Cola Company to keep its formula secret. In 1977, the Indian government demanded Coca-Cola reveal the formula if it wanted to market its product in the subcontinent. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company said rather than reveal its secret, it would sacrifice this huge market opportunity.

In fact, the formulas for Coca-Cola, Silly Putty, and Sea Monkeys have never been patented. They are protected through trade secrets.