Protection depends on practice
Trade secret law protects information that has value because it is not generally known, but only when the owner takes reasonable steps to keep it secret. Courts look at what the company did in practice rather than what its handbook said, so a secret left on an open drive or shared without a confidentiality agreement may be hard to protect later. Unlike a patent, a trade secret is not registered anywhere, and it can last as long as it stays secret. It does not stop someone who develops the same information independently or lawfully reverse-engineers a product.
Measures that tend to be examined
Common measures include confidentiality agreements with employees, contractors, and business partners, access limited to people who need the information, marking of confidential material, and exit procedures when someone leaves. Under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, employers that want to keep certain remedies available against employees should include a notice of the law's whistleblower immunity in agreements covering confidential information. Restrictive covenants such as non-competes are governed by state law that varies and has been changing, so they should be reviewed rather than copied from a template.
Starting with an inventory
The first step is usually identifying what the company actually treats as secret and where it lives. We then compare current practices against that list, look at the agreements people have signed, and spot gaps around remote work, personal devices, and outside vendors. Bring your standard employment and contractor agreements, NDAs, and a rough map of where sensitive information is stored. If you suspect information has already left, that becomes a different conversation, and preserving logs and company devices matters right away.
