Trade secrets

Once the idea is developed into a commercial product the inventor could choose to continue to keep the way it is made a trade secret. Any employees who need to know the trade secret would have to sign a confidentiality agreement in their employment contracts. The trade secret lasts for ever, provided nobody reveals the information. If they do, the only remedy is to sue them for damages – but the secret is out in the open! A person cannot prevent somebody independently working out how they have made the same product (i.e. ‘reverse engineering the process’).