Co-written with Christopher Buntel

Trade secrets have often been treated as the unloved stepchild of intellectual property. Management’s attention, effort and budget have been directed mainly towards the “registered rights” of patents, trademarks and copyrights. This is partly due to the “Do It Yourself” nature of trade secret law and process.

The registered rights enjoy relatively clear and well-understood procedures for protection, monetisation and enforcement. Trade secrets, not so much. There is no single-source clear guidance telling trade secret owners exactly what to do. This makes trade secrets both interesting and potentially frustrating!
In recent years, trade secrets have been getting more attention. This increased awareness and discussion stems from the increased value of business information, as well as some very significant awards in trade secret misappropriation cases.

Meanwhile, key questions have only been partially answered (or maybe not answered at all):

• What constitutes “reasonable measures” (or “reasonable steps” in TRIPS parlance) for proactive protection of trade secrets?
• What are ideal practices for documentation, employee training, and securing shared information? How does a company both give and receive trade secrets during transactions with third parties,
• such as collaborations, supply chains, and M&A due diligence?
• How should a business identify its trade secrets in the first place? Every company in the world has trade secrets, but most are not fully aware. And trade secrets are spread across the entire organisation, often making identification more challenging than for patentable inventions.

These questions are symptoms of the lack of a clear and accessible framework to proactively identify and manage trade secrets.

Stepping into this gap is Trade Secret 2025 (TS25), a global nonprofit community focused on helping organisations manage and protect their trade secrets. Founded in 2024 by a group of business leaders, legal experts, and academics, TS25 aims to serve as a central resource for practical tools, expert insights, and helpful standards.

Moreover, TS25 is working to establish actionable standards for global trade secret management. It provides a practical framework that businesses of any size can use to organize, protect, and realize value from their trade secrets. Every resource is shaped by the community and designed for real-world use.
The need for standardisation is not new, yet several converging factors make the timing for an initiative like TS25 particularly urgent.

First, the pace and nature of modern innovation demand a more agile approach to protection. In fields like AI, biotechnology, and software development, innovation cycles are continually shortening. Traditional IP protections, while indispensable, can struggle to keep pace. Securing patents is often time consuming, expensive, and the defined scope may not fully capture the dynamic, evolving knowledge that provides real competitive edge. Consequently, companies increasingly rely on well managed secrecy to protect breakthroughs, especially during critical development and early market phases.

Second, intensified global competition, increased employee mobility, and sophisticated threats targeting proprietary data have converged to make passive or vaguely defined trade secret protection strategies insufficient. Proactive, robust measures are no longer just aspirational; they are essential.

Third, trade secret litigation is more common and costly. Disputes often hinge on how well a business has managed its information assets, measured against fairly vague standards. This ambiguity can result in protracted, expensive legal battles. Recognising this, corporate leaders are actively seeking more comprehensive innovation protection strategies that extend beyond the registered rights, demanding better ways to mitigate the risks associated with building a business on a foundation of data.

TS25: Building the future of trade secret protection together

TS25 emerges as a direct response to the growing need for accessible and reliable guidance in trade secret management. It gathers expert knowledge into one trusted place to guide how trade secrets are managed and protected.

To make this knowledge easier to access, the TS25 website features a large language model (LLM) that allows visitors to ask natural language questions and receive clear, accurate answers based entirely on vetted expert content. Unlike generic AI tools or public search engines, the TS25 LLM is trained exclusively on trusted materials contributed by leaders in the field. It turns fragmented expertise into practical support, helping users make informed decisions with confidence.

The community is designed to grow. As more resources, case studies, and expert content are added, the knowledge base will continue to improve, expanding its ability to guide users through even the most nuanced aspects of trade secret management.

In an era where innovation is a key driver of competitiveness and the risks to proprietary knowledge are constantly evolving, guesswork is no longer an option. TS25 represents a critical shift toward clarity, consistency, and collective support in protecting trade secrets—some of the most valuable assets in business today.