Trade Secret Check

Are your know-how, data and code really protected?

The Trade Secret Check gives a preliminary assessment of whether confidential information can be protected as trade secrets, whether reasonable confidentiality measures are in place and where urgent action may be needed around data rooms, staff changes, software, AI, the Data Act, offboarding or leaks. This shows you whether your confidential information is really protected.

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Trade Secrets Act NDA & data room Software & AI Offboarding Securing evidence

What it is about in practice

Trade secret protection does not arise from the wish to keep things confidential alone. What matters is specific information, economic value, actual secrecy and reasonable organisational, contractual and technical measures. The check helps you review these levels in a structured way.

Visualisation

Protection layers of a trade secret

The graphic shows that a trade secret consists of more than valuable information. Protection only arises through delimitation, access control, contracts, evidence and the ability to respond to an incident.

Information: first it must be clear which files, data, documents, processes, models, source code or customer information specifically need to be kept secret.

Orientation

How the checker reviews your starting position

1Identify the information

Which specific information, files, data, models, source code, processes or customer lists should be protected?

2Check the secrecy status

Is the information not public, not readily accessible and economically valuable precisely because it is secret?

3Assess the measures

Are NDAs, access restrictions, classification, technical safeguards, logging, training and offboarding in place?

4Map the interfaces

Are there overlaps with software development, AI, the Data Act, data protection, cybersecurity, open source or due diligence?

5Determine the urgency

Is there a staff change, a data room, a suspected download, a leak, a warning letter or an allegation of trade secret infringement?

What the check does

What this check delivers

The check does not replace a legal review of the individual case. It does structure the typical risk signals, so companies can see faster whether a trade secret protection concept, an NDA, a data room, an offboarding plan or an evidence and escalation strategy should be reviewed.

Initial orientation

Preliminary assessment of protectability, gaps in measures, dispute risk and priority.

Focus on measures

Notes on the trade secret inventory, need-to-know, NDAs, technical controls, logs and offboarding.

Digital interfaces

Assessment of typical links to AI models, training data, product data, software, security and data access claims.

Which information can be a trade secret?

Protection can cover in particular source code, software architecture, algorithms, AI models, training data, customer lists, pricing logic, strategies, recipes, technical documentation, data room documents or internal processes. What matters is that the specific information is secret, economically valuable and subject to reasonable confidentiality measures.

When are protective measures reasonable?

Reasonableness depends on value, risk, company size, the circle of people with access, the disclosure situation and technical feasibility. Typical building blocks are NDAs, classification, role-based rights, MFA, encryption, logging, training, data room controls, offboarding and an incident process.

What applies to data access, AI and external disclosure?

For AI, the Data Act, software development, cloud, M&A and cooperations, trade secrets should be handled with a protection concept, purpose limitation, access restrictions and evidence rather than in general terms. Data access or audit obligations may apply; at the same time, trade secrets, data protection and IT security must be clearly separated.

Interactive questionnaire

Preliminary assessment of your trade secret risk

Answer the following questions. At the end you receive a preliminary risk rating, typical reasons, next review points, documents to prepare and a short summary you can copy into your inquiry.

Step 1 of 5

1. Which role describes your situation? Company / holder of confidential informationYou want to protect know-how, data, code, strategies, prices, documents or processes. Employer, HR or managementIt concerns employees, former employees, moves to competitors, internal access or offboarding. Service provider, customer, supplier or cooperation partnerYou receive, share or negotiate confidential information in a project, NDA, contract or data room. Start-up, investor, M&A or due diligenceIt concerns data rooms, pitch decks, product ideas, code, IP, roadmap or the sale of a company. Software, AI, data or product teamSource code, training data, models, algorithms, architecture, security, APIs, databases or product logic. Recipient, accused party or new employerYou are accused of having used, received or disclosed someone else's trade secrets. Dispute, suspicion or acute leak of secretsDownload, disclosure, competitor, former employee, data room, leak, warning letter or court escalation.

2. Which information should be protected?

Please select everything that applies.

Source code, software architecture or technical documentationCode, repositories, build processes, interfaces, deployment, SDKs or technical concepts. AI models, training data, algorithms or datasetsPrompts, model weights, training data, scoring logic, datasets, analyses or feature engineering. Customer, sales, pricing or margin dataCustomer lists, leads, terms, offers, pricing logic, margins, CRM data, pipeline or discounts. Strategy, roadmap, product idea or market entryBusiness model, campaign, launch, product planning, M&A, market analysis or competitive strategy. Contracts, finances, investor or company dataFinancial planning, valuations, contracts, data room, investor deck, due diligence or business plan. Manufacturing, operational, recipe or process know-howRecipes, SOPs, quality assurance, suppliers, machine parameters or operating processes. Security, access or technical protection informationTokens, keys, security architecture, vulnerabilities, penetration test reports, admin access or incident documents. Product, usage or machine data relevant to the Data ActData from connected products, related services, telemetry, IoT data, API data or cloud switching data. Not yet clearly definedIt is still unclear which specific information needs to be kept secret.

3. Why is the information secret and valuable?

Please select everything that applies.

Not publicly knownThe information is not available on a website, GitHub, registers, social media, patents, the press, product documents or industry sources. Not readily accessible or reconstructableThe information cannot easily be obtained through reverse engineering, market observation, product analysis or industry knowledge. Economic value because it is secretThe information gives a head start, saves costs, generates revenue, strengthens negotiating power or protects competitive advantages. Specific information has been identifiedIt is not just about “know-how” in general, but about files, data, documents, processes or information packages that can be named. Only a limited circle of people knows the informationAccess is actually limited to certain teams, roles, managers, service providers or project members. Information has been shared externallyInformation went to customers, service providers, investors, applicants, partners, agencies, freelancers, suppliers or data rooms. Possibly public or known in the industryParts are visible in a product, website, pitch deck, patent, open source, documentation, trade fair, offer or the press. Not yet assessedDegree of secrecy, economic value and delimitation have not yet been reviewed.

5. Is there specific urgency?

Please select everything that applies.

An employee is moving, resigning or joining a competitorRisk of know-how being taken, customers poached, data exported, source code copied or confidential documents removed. Suspicious download, export or accessUnusual logins, mass downloads, USB, cloud sync, repository clones, forwarding, screenshots or private email. A competitor is using similar informationProduct, offer, customer approach, code, campaign, pricing strategy or documents appear to have been copied. Leak, publication or find on a platformInformation appears on a website, GitHub, a forum, social media, the press, a data room, the darknet or with customers. NDA, pitch, cooperation or data room coming upConfidential information is to be disclosed to investors, partners, customers, service providers or buyers. Data access, audit or disclosure requestA business partner, user, customer, investor, authority or third party demands data, documentation, logs or technical information. Allegation, warning letter or court escalationYou are accused of trade secret infringement, unlawful use, betrayal of secrets, data leakage or unfair competition. Preventive reviewNo acute incident, but trade secret protection, contracts, access and processes should be set up properly.

Risk and measures matrix

Typical review areas in trade secret protection

Review area	Typical risk	Useful measure
Trade secret inventory	Information is only described generally as “know-how” and is hard to pin down in a dispute.	Name and version files, data, processes, repositories, price lists, customer data or models specifically.
NDA and external disclosure	Information is shared in a pitch, data room or project without purpose limitation and return/deletion rules.	Review NDAs, staged disclosure, recipient lists, watermarks, download controls and data room logs.
Staff changes	Source code, customer lists, strategies or documents are copied or stored privately before someone leaves.	Prepare offboarding, access blocking, device checks, log analysis, return and confirmation of confidentiality.
Software, AI and data	Repository rights, model access, training data, API keys or product data are not properly restricted.	Combine role rights, MFA, logging, data classification, AI and data governance and security processes.
Data Act and data access	Data access requests conflict with trade secrets, data protection or technical security.	Document the data catalogue, trade secret review, GDPR gate, interface concept and refusal/protection logic.
Dispute and leak	Evidence is deleted, those involved are confronted too early or injunctive claims are not properly prepared.	Coordinate legal hold, forensic preservation, access blocks, communication line, assessment of claims and escalation plan.

Sensible next steps

Related ITMR checkers and follow-up reviews

These follow-up reviews often fit trade secrets, software, data, AI, data rooms, evidence preservation and confidential digital business models.

Document Dossier BuilderHelps you prepare the trade secret inventory, contracts, logs, evidence and records in a structured way for a review or dispute. Software Development Contract CheckReviews IP, code, exploitation, handover, confidentiality, cooperation duties and exit in software projects. Open Source / SBOM CheckAssesses code, component, licence and security questions where software assets are secret or relevant to the product. Data Act CheckClarifies data access, product data, cloud switching, trade secret protection and GDPR interfaces. AI Act Initial CheckFits AI models, training data, prompts, governance, roles and confidential AI use cases. Cease-and-desist emergency modeHelps with allegations, leaks, use by competitors, cease-and-desist demands or acute escalation.

Have your trade secret protection reviewed in a structured way

If confidential information is economically important, shared externally, employees change jobs, a data room is being prepared or a leak is suspected, you should check early which information is protected, which measures demonstrably work and which next steps make legal sense.

Send an inquiry to ITMR

Note: this online check only offers initial orientation and does not replace legal advice in the individual case. Trade secret protection depends on the specific information, its economic value, the secrecy situation, the protective measures, contracts, evidence and the actual course of events. How to protect confidential know-how permanently is explained under Trade secret protection and on our page on NDAs and confidentiality agreements.

Are your know-how, data and code really protected?

Protection layers of a trade secret

How the checker reviews your starting position

What this check delivers

Preliminary assessment of your trade secret risk

Why this result?

Recommended next review points

Documents worth preparing

Typical review areas in trade secret protection

Related ITMR checkers and follow-up reviews

Have your trade secret protection reviewed in a structured way