Trade secret law is concerned with the protection of technological and commercial information not generally known in the trade against unauthorized commercial use by others. The policy basis for trade secret protection is the desire to encourage research and development by providing protection for the originator of business information, and also to maintain proper standards of business ethics. See Kewanee Oil Company v. Bicron Corp., 416 U.S. 470 (190). The trade secret owner is not granted exclusivity to the information, but rather is only protected against improper acquisition and/or use of the information. As a result, others are free to discover a trade secret by any fair means.
