“Trade secrets are protected … in a manner akin to private property, but only when they are disclosed or used through improper means. Trade secrets do not enjoy the absolute monopoly afforded patented processes, for example, and trade secrets will lose their character as private property when the owner divulges them or when they are discovered through proper means…. Thus, it is the employment of improper means to produce the trade secret, rather than mere copy or use, which is the basis of liability.” Chicago Lock Co. v. Fanberg, 676 F.2d 400, 404 (9th Cir. 1982).
proper means
proper means. Trade secrets. Any method of discovering trade secrets that does not violate property-protection statutes or standards of commercial ethics. • Proper means include independent invention, reverse engineering, observing the product in public, and studying published literature. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 757 cmt. f (1977).
