An Overview of International Trade Secret Protection from the International Trade and Investment Perspective
Pedro A. Padilla Torres

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protection is one of the most important and current legal issues in the international trade arena. As international trade and investment increases around the world, copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets need to be subjects of a more global perspective. The necessity for legal protection of products of the mind in the international trade and investment context from the stand point of developed countries is apparent: An English or Canadian manufacturing company is more willing to make capital investments in Singapore or Venezuela if they believe that their patented inventions and secret processes of manufacture are adequately protected from unwanted use or misappropriation; similarly, an American software producer will lay its products through Internet if there exists protection against its unauthorized copying.
Not surprisingly one of the hottest topics of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Negotiations between the Ministers of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the protection of IPRs. Likewise, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Preamble reflects the concerns of the contracting countries (Canada, Mexico and the United States) about the legal protection of those very same rights when, among other issues, they resolved to: "FOSTER creativity and innovation, and promote trade in goods and services that are subject of intellectual property rights". The European Union (EU), notwithstanding its more subtle way to deal with issue, had also addressed the necessity of harmonized rules to protect IPRs.
Some types of intellectual property are protected primarily to encourage technology innovation. In this category belongs patents, industrial designs and trade secrets. Their economic aim is to procure financing for technological research and development, through providing legal protection to products of investment in research and development activities.
In the midst of IPRs designed mostly to stimulate technological advancement, the law of trade secrets is getting, more than ever, international attention because of its potential to become an effective legal tool when other regimes, like patents or copyrights, are not suited to offer the satisfactory or desired protection for investors. This note begins with a brief general definition of trade secrets and an overview of its diverse approaches or theories of protection. Next, I will comment the major elements of trade secrets and some associated economics. Then, I will discuss the international agreements bearing on trade secret protection and the responses of some countries. Finally, I will offer, as a conclusion, some reflections on the current worldwide stage of trade secret protection and its implications to international trade.
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