Regarding the Patent/Trade Secret interface, let’s keep in mind that all Patents are born as Trade Secrets, and that Trade Secrets also accompany Patents and outlast Patents. Patents and Trade Secrets are not mutually exclusive, but highly complementary and mutually reinforcing. In other words, they dovetail.

“The co-existence is well established,” according to Don Chisum. Hence, the question is not whether to patent or to padlock, but rather what to patent and what to padlock simultaneously. There is much overlap between Patents and Trade Secrets that can and need be exploited for synergistic dual protection.