Patents, Trade Secrets, and Licensing

As noted in Chapter 2, technology is generally a critical factor for competing successfully in the plastics industry. Technology comes in several varieties  

Trade secrets, meaning technology that is both unpublished and not generally known or practiced outside the company that uses it. The company that claims ownership of a trade secret must take steps to ensure that it remains proprietary, such as restricting access to the formulation or process area where the secret is used, and requiring every employee to sign a secrecy agreement that he or she will not disclose or use the secret outside their employment with the company. 

Finally, patent holders have to recognize that their monopoly has a limited life and they can gain more during the lifetime of the patent by licensing to create a strong duopoly that will make it more challenging for others to enter the business after the patent has expired. Unfortunately, not many patent owners have been willing to observe and learn from the few who have 

engineering firms or equipment suppliers will furnish technology license packages as part of their products and services. Turnkey plant components and layouts are usually based on information in the public domain. Individual equipment items may be patented or treated as trade secrets, but the buyer gets a license as part of the purchase. 

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