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Question One
Issue
The issue is whether a list of patients qualifies as a trade secret.
Rule
Trade secrets in the U.S are governed by the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Under the Act, something is deemed to be a trade secret if it is not information known or accessible to the public, its confidentiality has some economic value to its owner, and if its owner protects its confidentiality (Yeh, 2016).
Analysis
A list of patients is not public information. It is compiled by the medical professional handling the patients and is only known to that medical professional. The public can’t access the list of patients unless the medical professional makes it available to the public. A list of patients has economic value to the medical professional who owns that list. Those patients pay money when the medical professional offers their services. Medical professionals tend to protect their lists of patients. This is because they know the value of a patient list. Some medical professionals keep patient lists under lock and key, or better, in safes. They would not want patient lists to get in the wrong hands (Risch, 2007).
Conclusion
A list of patients qualifies as a trade secret under the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. A list of patients is not information known or accessible to the public. Its confidentiality has economic value to the medical profession who owns the list. The confidentiality of a list of patients is protected by the medical professional who owns the list (Linton, 2016).
Question Two
Issues
There are several issues in this case:
- Whether Petr Taborsky’s discovery qualifies as a trade secret.
- Whether at the time of discovery, Petr Taborsky was a laboratory assistant at the College of Engineering where he took part in a research sponsored by Florida Progress.
- Whether the discovery belongs to Petr Taborsky or Florida Progress.
Rule
As stated above, trade secrets in the U.S are governed by the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Under the Act, something is deemed to be a trade secret if it is not information known or accessible to the public, its confidentiality has some economic value to its owner, and if its owner protects its confidentiality (Yeh, 2016).
Analysis
The discovery by Taborsky qualifies as a trade secret. The data and information that led to the discovery is not public information. Taborsky is the only one in its possession. It can only be public information if Taborsky makes it available. The discovery has economic value. The purpose of the discovery is to make sewage treatment cheaper and more efficient. The concept will generate a lot of money if sold to various entities. Taborsky protects the confidentiality of the discovery. He has not yet made the information that led to the discovery public (Linton, 2016).
The project leader of the research sponsored by Florida Progress says that Taborsky made the discovery while he was still a laboratory assistant at the College of Engineering when he took part in a research project to make sewage treatment cheaper and more efficient. Taborsky claims that he made the discovery on his own after the project had ended. It depends on when the project ended and when Taborsky made the discovery. Florida Progress can be able to tell when the project ended because they were sponsors of the research. If it is found that Taborsky was still a laboratory assistant when he made the discovery, he will be liable for theft of trade secrets (Linton, 2016).
The ownership of the trade secret still depends on whether Taborsky was a laboratory assistant in the research project sponsored by Florida Progress at the time of making the discovery. If Taborsky was still an assistant, then the discovery belongs to Florida Progress as they own the rights to any discovery made during the research they sponsored. If Taborsky was not a laboratory assistant, the discovery belongs to him and he will not be liable for theft of any trade secret (Linton, 2016).
Conclusion
The discovery made by Taborsky is a trade secret. Its ownership depends on whether he was an assistant during research sponsored by Florida Progress. If he was an assistant, he is liable for theft of a trade secret, otherwise, the trade secret belongs to him and he is not liable for theft of a trade secret (Risch, 2007).
References
Linton, K. (2016). The Importance of Trade Secrets: New Directions in International Trade Policy Making and Empirical Research. United States International Trade Commission Journal of International Commerce and Economics, 1-13.
Risch, M. (2007). Why Do We Have Trade Secrets. Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, 1-75.
Yeh, B. (2016). Protection of Trade Secrets: Overview of Current Law and Legislation. Congressional Research Service, 1-23.
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