Business Information Accessible To All Employees May Lose Trade Secret Status

Under New York law, trade secret protection is afforded to certain confidential business information which gives the owner an opportunity to obtain an advantage over its competitors. To be eligible for such protection, the trade secret must of course first be “secret.” In this regard, previous case law has focused on the owner’s efforts to prevent disclosure of the information to competitors and the public at large. However, the New York Supreme Court, Nassau County, recently indicated that information generally accessible by the owner’s own employees may lose its protected status.