Reverse engineering for the purpose of achieving interoperability of systems is often protected as fair use or by the DMCA. Also, discovering a trade secret by fair and honest means does not violate trade secret law. If reverse engineering is accomplished through the use of theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of
Is reverse engineering legal? Read More »
No. Copyright cannot be claimed in facts, information, discoveries, or research findings. At one time, courts applied a “sweat of the brow ” doctrine, holding that copyright protection could exist for facts and information that a person expended a great deal of effort to discover and collect. Courts no longer apply the “sweat of the
Copyrights protect expression. Patents protect inventions. Trade secrets protect commercially valuable ideas and information that are kept secret. A copyright may protect the expression of an idea, but it does not protect the idea itself. For that, recourse must be had, if at all, to patent, trade secret or unfair competition laws.
What is the difference between a copyright and a patent or trade secret? Read More »
