Method and apparatus for documentation, analysis, auditing, accounting, protection, registration, and verification of trade secrets

• US 20020077941A1
• Filed: 01/09/2001
• Published: 06/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: TSO, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TSO, Inc.
• Inventors: Weyand, Richard, Halligan, R. Mark
• Application Number:
  US09/757,206
• Publication Number:
  US 20020077941A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for documentation, analysis, auditing, accounting, protection, registration, and verification of trade secrets are disclosed. Information relating to a trade secret, including the trade secret'"'"'s identification, description, keywords, source, creation date, creation location, value, depreciation method, threat of theft, measures for protection, patentability, estimated life expectancy, the type of trade secret, combination analysis, and data associated with the six factors of a trade secret as set forth in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts, is entered into the computer system. Additional information concerning the management of the trade secret, including legal reviewer, legal review date, legal review schedule, business reviewer, business review date, business review schedule, validity status, source status, and licensing status, is entered into the computer system. Further information concerning the company, such as company locations, company groups, departments, and divisions and their hierarchical relationships, and further information concerning the employees, including locations employed, and group, department, and division employed, is also entered into the computer system. The computer system archives and timestamps the data entered. The system performs analysis of the data, producing graphs and reports for the purposes of documentation, analysis, auditing, accounting, and protection of the trade secrets. These analyses include analyses of the values of trade secrets, the ranking of trade secrets, the adequacy of security measures, the exposure of employees to trade secrets, and other analyses relevant to the protection of trade secret assets. The computer system registers the trade secret with a computer system operated by a trusted third-party through the use of unique identification codes. The third-party computer system records the existence of the trade secret and the associated unique identification codes without receiving any decodable trade secret information. The third-party computer system issues a trade secret certificate, which can be used by the trade secret originating company and other firms to verify the existence, ownership, and registration date of the trade secret. The unique identification codes maintained by the trusted third-party can be used to verify the trade secret data at a later date.

Claims

1. A trade secret accounting system, for providing documentation, analysis, auditing, accounting, protection, and other management of trade secrets of an organization, said system comprising:

a) data processing means for performing indexing of trade secrets, accessing and storing data about or relating to trade secrets, and performing calculations about or relating to trade secrets;

b) user interface means for entering data and displaying data and the results of searches and calculations; and

c) mass data storage means for storing data entered into the system, as well as the programs required to implement the system, and the results of searches and calculations performed by the system.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising printer means for printing out data, displays, and the results of searches and calculations.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising system interface means for providing user interface functions, printing functions, or mass data storage functions through the use of another computer system, or for connection to the registration system.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for indexing trade secret drafts.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for indexing trade secret applications.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for indexing trade secret drafts;

b) means for indexing trade secret applications; and

c) means for converting trade secret drafts into trade secret applications.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for storing changes to the data to provide audit trail and history of all changes.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for characterizing whether the trade secret constitutes negative know-how.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for characterizing whether the trade secret is a combinational trade secret.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying security measures by company location.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising means for associating said specified security measures with a trade secret based on one or more company locations associated with a trade secret.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying security measures used to protect a trade secret.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising means for calculating from said specified security measures a security measures factor for a trade secret.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying security threats to a trade secret.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising means for calculating from said specified security threats a security threats factor for a trade secret.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying security measures used to protect a trade secret;

b) means for specifying security threats to a trade secret; and

c) means for entering and recording which security measures counteract each security threat.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising means for determining which security measures are needed for each trade secret based on the security threats to each trade secret.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying security measures by company location;

b) means for specifying security threats to a trade secret;

c) means for entering and recording which security measures counteract each security threat;

d) means for determining which security measures are needed for each trade secret based on the security threats to each trade secret; and

e) means for determining which security measures needed for each trade secret based on the security threats to each trade secret are also available at the company location.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying security measures used to protect a trade secret;

b) means for calculating from said specified security measures a security measures factor for a trade secret;

c) means for specifying security threats to a trade secret;

d) means for calculating from said specified security threats a security threats factor for a trade secret.; and

e) means for calculating from the security measures factor and security threats factor a ratio associated with a trade secret.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising means for analyzing said ratio to identify outlying values for further inspection.

21. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying values for the six factors of a trade secret enumerated in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for calculating various weighted values of the six factors using logical and mathematical equations to generate a single defendability factor associated with a trade secret.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising means for analyzing said defendability factor to identify outlying values for further inspection.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying security measures used to protect a trade secret;

b) means for calculating from said specified security measures a security measures factor for a trade secret;

c) means for specifying values for the six factors of a trade secret enumerated in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts;

d) means for calculating various weighted values of the six factors using logical and mathematical equations to generate a single defendability factor associated with a trade secret; and

e) means for calculating from the security measures factor and the single defendability factor a ratio associated with a trade secret.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising means for analyzing said ratio to identify outlying values for further inspection.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the organization and the date range within which he or she was employed and the organization and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that organization.

27. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the company location and the date range within which he or she was employed and the company location and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that company location.

28. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the organization and the date range within which he or she was employed and the organization and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that organization;

b) means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the company location and the date range within which he or she was employed and the company location and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that company location; and

c) means for generating a report documenting the employee exposure to a trade secret based on the organization and the company location and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that organization or company location.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for characterizing employee exposure to company trade secrets in one or more employee exposure factors.

30. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for characterizing security risk associated with an employee'"'"'s position in the company in one or more employee position risk factors.

31. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the organization and the date range within which he or she was employed by the organization and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that organization;

b) means for determining employee exposure to a trade secret based on the company location and the date range within which he or she was employed and the company location and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that company location;

c) means for generating a report documenting the employee exposure to a trade secret based on the organization and the company location and the date range within which the trade secret was known within that organization or company location;

d) means for characterizing employee exposure to company trade secrets in one or more employee exposure factors;

e) means for characterizing security risk associated with an employee'"'"'s position in the company in one or more employee position risk factors; and

f) means for calculating from one or more employee exposure factors and one or more employee position risk factors an employee risk factor.

32. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for archiving employee confidentiality agreements and the dates on which the employee confidentiality agreements were executed.

33. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for determining a renewal period for employee confidentiality agreements from elements of employee data, employee factors, and employee reports.

34. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for archiving employee confidentiality agreements and the dates on which the employee confidentiality agreements were executed;

b) means for determining a renewal period for employee confidentiality agreements from elements of employee data, employee factors, and employee reports; and

c) means for calculating employee confidentiality agreements due for renewal.

35. The system of claim 34, further comprising means for generating for viewing or printing a report listing employee confidentiality agreements due for renewal.

36. The system of claim 34, further comprising means for printing employee confidentiality agreements due for renewal.

37. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for archiving employee confidentiality reminders and the dates on which the employee confidentiality reminders were sent.

38. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for determining a renewal period for employee confidentiality reminders from elements of employee data, employee factors, and employee reports.

39. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for archiving employee confidentiality reminders and the dates on which the employee confidentiality reminders were sent;

b) means for determining a renewal period for employee confidentiality reminders from elements of employee data, employee factors, and employee reports; and

c) means for calculating employee confidentiality reminders due for renewal.

40. The system of claim 39, further comprising means for generating for viewing or printing a report listing employee confidentiality reminders due for renewal.

41. The system of claim 39, further comprising means for printing employee confidentiality reminders due for renewal.

42. The system of claim 41, further comprising means for retaining proof-of-receipt documents for hard-copy employee confidentiality reminders.

43. The system of claim 39, further comprising means for emailing employee confidentiality reminders due for renewal directly to the employee.

44. The system of claim 43, further comprising means for retaining proof-of-receipt documents for email employee confidentiality reminders.

45. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for creating a specification of the type of a trade secret using alphabetic, numeric, or alphanumeric fields to characterize information about the type of trade secret.

46. The system of claim 45, further comprising means for encoding said specification of the type of a trade secret.

47. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for calculating the net present value of a trade secret from an estimated commercial value on a given date and a depreciation or appreciation method.

48. The system of claim 47, further comprising means for characterizing the net present value of a trade secret in a net present value factor.

49. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying security measures used to protect a trade secret;

b) means for calculating from said specified security measures a security measures factor for a trade secret;

c) means for calculating the net present value of a trade secret from an estimated commercial value on a given date and a depreciation or appreciation method;

d) means for characterizing the net present value of a trade secret in a net present value factor; and

e) means for calculating from the security measures factor and the net present value factor a ratio associated with a trade secret.

50. The system of claim 49, further comprising means for analyzing said ratio to identify outlying values for further inspection.

51. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying values for the six factors of a trade secret enumerated in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts;

b) means for calculating the net present value of a trade secret from an estimated commercial value on a given date and a depreciation or appreciation method;

c) means for characterizing the net present value of a trade secret in a net present value factor; and

d) means for calculating from the economic benefit factor and the net present value factor a ratio associated with a trade secret.

52. The system of claim 51, further comprising means for analyzing said ratio to identify outlying values for further inspection.

53. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying source status of a trade secret.

54. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for recording purchase and licensed-from data of a trade secret.

55. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for specifying licensing status of a trade secret.

56. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for recording sale and licensed-to data of a trade secret.

57. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database.

58. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for indexing trade secret drafts;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the alphabetic or alphanumeric sequence of the trade secret draft identifier of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

59. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for indexing trade secret applications;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the alphabetic or alphanumeric sequence of the trade secret application identifier of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

60. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying source status of a trade secret;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the source status of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

61. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for recording purchase and licensed-from data of a trade secret;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the purchase and licensed-from data of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

62. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying licensing status of a trade secret;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the licensing status of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

63. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for recording sale and licensed-to data of a trade secret;

b) means for splitting data associated with selected trade secrets from one database into a separate database; and

c) means for modifying the sale and licensed-to data of selected trade secrets when splitting data associated with said trade secrets into a separate database.

64. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database.

65. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for indexing trade secret drafts;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the alphabetic or alphanumeric sequence of the trade secret draft identifier of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

66. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for indexing trade secret applications;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the alphabetic or alphanumeric sequence of the trade secret application identifier of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

67. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying source status of a trade secret;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the source status of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

68. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for recording purchase and licensed-from data of a trade secret;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the purchase and licensed-from data of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

69. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for specifying licensing status of a trade secret;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the licensing status of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

70. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a) means for recording sale and licensed-to data of a trade secret;

b) means for merging data associated with selected trade secrets from two databases into a single database; and

c) means for modifying the sale and licensed-to data of selected trade secrets when merging data associated with said trade secrets into a single database.

74. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for associating more than one application fingerprint with a single trade secret.

81. The systems of claims 1 and 71, further comprising means for communicating data between the systems, forming in effect a single system.

82. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for detecting corruption in the trade secret registration database.

83. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for detecting corruption in the trade secret registration database during normal operation.

84. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for locating corruption in the trade secret registration database.

92. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for transmitting by the trade secret accounting system to the trade secret registration system the certificate identifier of the previous certificate with a new request to provide a check of the database integrity to provide an indication of database corruption.

93. The system of claim 81, further comprising means for transmitting by the trade secret registration system to the trade secret accounting system previously granted certificates as a request to verify these certificates and return an indication of their status.

94. The system of claim 81, further comprising:

a) means for continuously recalculating certificate fingerprints in order to provide an indication of database corruption;

b) means for transmitting by the trade secret accounting system to the trade secret registration system the certificate identifier of the previous certificate with a new request to provide a check of the database integrity to provide an indication of database corruption; and

c) means for determining the location of the data corruption from the said return indications.

95. The system of claim 81, further comprising:

a) means for continuously recalculating certificate fingerprints in order to provide an indication of database corruption;

b) means for transmitting by the trade secret registration system to the trade secret accounting system previously granted certificates as a request to verify these certificates and return an indication of their status; and

c) means for determining the location of the data corruption from the said return indications.

71. A trade secret registration system, for providing registration and verification of the existence, ownership, contents, and other information relating to trade secrets, said system comprising:

a) data processing means for performing indexing of trade secrets, accessing and storing data about or relating to trade secrets, and performing calculations about or relating to trade secrets;

b) user interface means for entering data and displaying data and the results of searches and calculations; and

c) mass data storage means for storing data entered into the system, as well as the programs required to implement the system, and the results of searches and calculations performed by the system.

72. The system of claim 71, further comprising printer means for printing out data, displays, and the results of searches and calculations.

73. The system of claim 71, further comprising system interface means for providing user interface functions, printing functions, or mass data storage functions through the use of another computer system, or for connection to the accounting system.

75. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for registering more than one application fingerprint with a single trade secret.

76. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for registering an additional application fingerprint with a trade secret previously registered.

77. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for registering an application fingerprint associated with other data in the same registration record database with trade secret registrations.

78. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for maintaining a directory of registration information.

79. The system of claim 78, further comprising means for publishing a directory of registration information.

80. The system of claim 79, further comprising means for publishing a directory of registration information on a limited basis.

85. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for making contemporaneous backups of transactions performed by the trade secret registration system.

86. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for providing multiple registration records with an additional index number to create a registration that may have multiple entries.

87. The system of claim 86, further comprising means for creating a registration record without said additional index number to accommodate registrations with single entries in the same registration record database as those with multiple entries.

88. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for creating an additional registration record with an index number already in use to create a registration with multiple entries that span a time period.

89. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for creating a registration record without said index number to accommodate registrations of a non-indexed type in the same registration record database as those of the indexed type.

90. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for occasionally recalculating certificate fingerprints in order to provide an indication of database corruption.

91. The system of claim 71, further comprising means for continuously recalculating certificate fingerprints in order to provide an indication of database corruption.

96. A method of protecting a trade secret comprising the steps of:

a) applying a plurality of generally accepted legal criteria to a content of the trade secret;

b) assigning a value under each criterion; and

c) generating one or more metrics from the assigned values through the use of logical and mathematical processes, thereby allowing the comparison of results with predetermined threshold values.

97. The method of protecting the trade secret as in claim 96 further comprising creating an application fingerprint from a content of the trade secret.

98. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 97 wherein the step of creating the application fingerprint further comprises processing the content of the trade secret using a deterministic one-way algorithm.

99. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 97 further comprising transferring the application fingerprint from a creator of the trade secret to a trusted third party.

100. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 99 further comprising creating a certificate fingerprint from the application fingerprint by the trusted third party.

101. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 100 further comprising transmitting the certificate fingerprint from the trusted third party to the creator of the trade secret as a trade secret certificate.

102. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 96 wherein the step of applying the plurality of generally accepted legal criteria further comprises using the six factors of a trade secret as set forth in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts.

103. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 96 wherein the step of assigning the value further comprises assigning numeric values, such as on a scale of one to five or such as on a scale of zero to ten.

104. The method of protecting trade secrets as in claim 96 wherein the step of generating one or more metrics further comprises comparing the assigned values with predetermined threshold values.

105. An apparatus for protecting a trade secret comprising:

a) means for applying a plurality of generally accepted legal criteria to a content of the trade secret;

b) means for assigning a value under each criterion; and

c) means for generating one or more metrics from the assigned values through the use of logical and mathematical processes, thereby allowing the comparison of results with predetermined threshold values.

106. The apparatus for protecting the trade secret as in claim 105 further comprising means for creating an application fingerprint from a content of the trade secret.

107. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 106 wherein the means for creating the application fingerprint further comprises means for processing the content of the trade secret using a deterministic one-way algorithm.

108. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 106 further comprising means for transferring the application fingerprint from a creator of the trade secret to a trusted third party.

109. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 108 further comprising means for creating a certificate fingerprint from the application fingerprint by the trusted third party.

110. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 109 further comprising means for transmitting the certificate fingerprint from the trusted third party to the creator of the trade secret as a trade secret certificate.

111. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 105 wherein the means for applying the plurality of generally accepted legal criteria further comprises means for using the six factors of a trade secret as set forth in Section 757 of the First Restatement of Torts.

112. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 105 wherein the means for assigning the value further comprises means for assigning numeric values, such as one to five or a scale of zero to ten.

113. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 105 wherein the means for generating one or more metrics further comprises means for comparing the assigned values with predetermined threshold values.

115. The apparatus for protecting the trade secret as in claim 114 further comprising an application processor adapted to create an application fingerprint from a content of the trade secret.

116. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 114 further comprising a communication processor adapted to transfer the application fingerprint from a creator of the trade secret to a trusted third party.

117. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 116 further comprising a certificate processor adapted to create a certificate fingerprint from the application fingerprint by the trusted third party.

118. The apparatus for protecting trade secrets as in claim 114 wherein the arithmetic processor further comprises a comparator processor adapted to compare the assigned values with predetermined threshold values.

114. An apparatus for protecting a trade secret comprising:

a) an information processor adapted to apply a plurality of generally accepted legal criteria to a content of the trade secret;

b) an input device adapted to assign a value under each criterion; and

c) an arithmetic processor adapted to generate one or more metrics from the assigned values through the use of logical and mathematical processes, thereby allowing the comparison of results with predetermined threshold values.