Potter Clarkson has announced the launch of its new blockchain-enabled Trade Secret Registry (powered by Aon), providing clients with the simplest, safest and most effective way to identify, catalogue and manage their trade secrets.
In recent years, laws governing trade secrets have been enhanced in several key jurisdictions. However, to afford this new level of protection, trade secrets owners need to ensure they have robust processes in place to verify ownership and keep the information out of the public domain. In the absence of such an approach, businesses might find it difficult to rely on their trade secrets in the event of a dispute.
Potter Clarkson’s new registry is designed to meet the rigours of these regulations and give clients the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their trade secrets are stored in a secure location that is inaccessible outside their organisation, with all assets staying behind their internal firewall.
Tony Proctor, partner at Potter Clarkson and a specialist in the field of trade secrets, said:
Your trade secrets are incredibly valuable to your business but, unlike patents, trade marks, and copyrights, they cannot be formally registered. Having a system to actively manage them not only helps you protect these crucial business assets, but also allows you to keep track of their commercial value.”
Once an organisation is signed up to Potter Clarkson’s registry, they input very basic information relating to the trade secret and then create an electronic verification of the record. This is stored in the Ethereum blockchain as a unique digital fingerprint that can only be accessed by the individual and cannot be duplicated.
The digital fingerprints of the trade secrets created in the registry also serve as independent proof of ownership, which can be relied upon in the event of a legal dispute or insurance claim.
As well as helping a business with the authentication and protection of their trade secrets, the platform has been developed to bring efficiencies to the way trade secrets are managed on a day-to-day basis. Having this valuable information electronically catalogued and accessible from a single secure platform makes it quicker and easier to search for and retrieve the relevant details for management and auditing purposes.
Tony Proctor added:
The power of the Potter Clarkson Trade Secret Registry is that it simplifies a complex, time-consuming yet business-critical task. Not only is it the perfect tool for simplifying the administrative side of your portfolio - it also adds an additional level of security that less sophisticated alternatives cannot provide.”
The new registry builds on Potter Clarkson’s comprehensive offering aimed at helping clients with their approach to trade secrets. The firm’s SafeGuard product was launched last year to help organisations put robust systems in place for identifying, protecting and managing their trade secrets.
