While you're preparing to celebrate Constitution Day (either on your own on the 17th or here at Fondren on the 18th), take a moment to appreciate how America's IP system was originally formed within Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8.
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries;
It's a brief statement and perhaps vague, but it is the building block on which all of our modern US IP concepts were built. It outlines the continued laws that give authors, creators, and inventors (or owners) exclusive rights to their creations, but only for a specific limited time. Length of copyright protection has significantly increased across the years, but we haven't strayed too far from the original principles.
Perhaps the most significant change is related to marks (trademarks). There is no specific mention of them in the articles and clauses that lay out other forms of IP--copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Congress didn't gain power over trademark legislation until much later, and that was under the Commerce Clause.
See the explanation of Federal power over trademarks here.
For more on the powers given to Congress over IP, and the associated section of the Constitution, see a general explanation here and the details on each here.
I'd like to close by sharing a patent for the ink formula (oak gall based) used to write the Constitution, or perhaps some other component of the document, but wasn't able to find anything from the correct era. Searching for late 18th century patents is particularly challenging.
There are four primary categories of intellectual property in the US, and this blog generally discusses three--patents
and trademarks quite extensively, and a little on copyrights. The fourth is the
most elusive of these intangible assets: the trade secret. And it's also the main topic of this entry.
A trade secret is information that holds actual or potential
value because it is not widely known, has value to others who cannot obtain it
via legitimate means, and must be subject to “reasonable efforts to maintain
its secrecy” (USPTO, https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/trade-secret-policy). Which basically means, it is privileged information critical to
maintaining financial value or the economic function of an entity,
that would be ruined if everyone knew about it. Some of the easiest examples to
pose are the formula for Coke, or KFC’s 11 secret herbs and spices in their
fried chicken. (Disclaimer: References to particular products, patents, trademarks, service marks,
services, companies and/or organizations in this post are for illustrative or
educational purposes only and do not constitute or imply endorsement by the Kelley
Center, Fondren Library, Rice University or any of its affiliates.)
In reality, they are more than just recipes for commercial
products. Sure, they include “recipes” like the formula for a gasoline (think
of the performance lines that have catchy names and are advertised to clean
your engine), but they are also information like customer lists, marketing
models and strategies, or other patterns, processes, methods, systems, etc.
Three-minute introductory video on trade secrets by the USPTO's Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA)
Unlike patents, trademarks, or copyrights, there is no
registration to help ensure legal protection for or ownership enforcement of a trade secret. Secrecy is
their protection. Unfortunately, that means there is no centralized searchable database for
trade secrets or who might have one. After all, just
disclosing the existence of a trade secret might compromise it.
I wonder if Rice has some trade secrets? I am not actually “in
the know”, so I am going to take a stab at a few, just for the fun of this blog
entry.
Recruitment strategies: There is no way that Rice does not
have some methodology to their recruitment for students and faculty. Who they
select to pursue, and how a specific type of recruit is pursued, has to be some
kind of articulated strategy. Keeping these secret would give an edge over
other top-tier universities, making them less obviously financially valuable
but nonetheless part of the continued function of Rice as a school.
Funding procurement methods: Ensuring new donors and sources
of funding is vital to Rice’s existence. Scholarships, facilities, and more
rely on it. Beyond annual giving drives, requests to alumni and the more common programs, there are other sources of revenue and securing their funds. And not
just knowing the right people and having a set of instructions for how to
approach them! Management of the capital and how to grow it, how to secure more
non-fiduciary-exclusive streams of revenue, must be cards held closely to someone’s chest.
Just as a financial company has their own methods to procure and unload stocks
or investors, someone (or several someones? I should likely know at least a
little more about this) at Rice has a methodology for managing funding.
Housing and Dining's Cinnamon Rolls: If you have never had
one of Chef Roger’s cinnamon rolls from a servery, you won’t understand.Students wait in lines out the doors to get one of these fresh, warm,
utterly decadent treats. They’re oversized, messy, perfect, and something
probably best left as a fond memory for many of us who have graduated and since
aged out of our twenties. Many cinnamon rolls exist in this world, but these
are unique; they’re far better than most available from even higher-end
bakeries. Hopefully H&D is keeping their recipe and formula adequately
secret, and has everyone in their kitchens sign non-compete and non-disclosure
agreements! For those unfamiliar, I truly am not exaggerating the love; people turn to Reddit seeking them out. Read about and see here students getting a sweet
break during the pandemic.
Very important Reddit posting, folks.
Think I’m off base? Does Rice have other trade secrets, or
maybe none at all? Let us know in the comments!
Register now to attend the September 19 USPTO program, “Trending Issues in Trade Secrets: 2019.”
This
free, day-long seminar will feature informative presentations by
leading government, judicial, and industry experts in the field of trade
secret protection.
The program will also be available for viewing remotely via LiveStream. See the registration page for more details.
Under U.S. law, a trade secret is a commercially valuable piece of
information not generally known or readily ascertainable to the public
that is subject to reasonable measures to maintain confidentiality. The
Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 established a federal private civil
cause of action for the misappropriation of a trade secret. Its aim is
to provide businesses with a uniform, reliable, and predictable way to
protect their valuable trade secrets anywhere in the country. In light
of this new law, and the continued domestic and international attention
being paid to trade secrets, the USPTO will hold a public symposium on
developments in the protection of trade secrets. Topics to be discussed
include: (1) Measuring the Value of Secrecy; (2) Use of the DTSA in
Practice; (3) Differences in Trade Secret Protection in
Foreign Jurisdictions; and (4) Considerations of Business Owners in
International Cases. Experts from academia, private legal practice,
international organizations, and industry will serve as panelists.
Federal Register Notice:
Additional details about the meeting appear in the Federal Register notice, published April 11, 2017.
Registration:
Registration is free, and is
required to attend the meeting in person in Alexandria. The meeting will
be open to members of the public to attend, space permitting, on a
first-come, first-served basis. Registration is available online in
advance of the meeting at the link below, and may also be available on
site on the day of the meeting, space permitting. Register to attend (link is external).
Additional information: The registration
website (link is external)
provides additional information
about directions and accommodation. For non-press inquiries, please
contact Michael Smith, Jenny Blank, or Hollis Robinson at the USPTO’s
Office of Policy and International Affairs, telephone (571) 272-9300, or
by
tradesecrets@uspto.gov
(link sends e-mail)
