Trade secrets are the secret sauce of your business. They’re the confidential information that gives you a competitive edge, from proprietary algorithms to unique production methods. But here’s the thing: many organizations don’t know what their trade secrets actually are, let alone how to protect them.
Trade secret harvesting provides the solution. It is the process of systematically uncovering, categorizing, and documenting these hidden assets, transforming scattered know-how into an organized portfolio of protected intellectual capital.
One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make is assuming they don’t have any trade secrets. They overlook the operational knowledge, data, and processes that truly differentiate them. The result is an unseen layer of intellectual property that remains unprotected and vulnerable to loss or misappropriation.
This blog outlines how to operationalize trade secret harvesting, from identifying your “crown jewels” to casting a wider net to uncover hidden gems.
It’s Not That Hard, But It Does Require a Process
The good news is that trade secret harvesting isn’t rocket science. But it’s also not something you can do on a whim. It requires a structured process to ensure that you’re systematically identifying and documenting your trade secrets.
A haphazard effort leads to missed assets, incomplete records, and exposure to unnecessary risk. Establishing a consistent process ensures that trade secrets are discovered, prioritized, and protected across the enterprise.
What does trade secret harvesting look like? Here’s a simple framework to get you started:
Step 1: Assemble a Cross-Functional Team
You’ll need a cross-functional team that includes representatives from legal, R&D, engineering, sales, and marketing. Each department will have a unique perspective on what constitutes a valuable trade secret, and each department has their own unique set of trade secrets.
Step 2: Educate on the Definition of a Trade Secret
Make sure everyone on the team understands what a trade secret is (and isn’t). A trade secret is any information that:
- Has commercial value because it is secret.
- Is known only to a limited group of people.
- Is subject to reasonable steps to keep it secret.
Step 3: Brainstorm and Document
This is the core of the harvesting process. Have your team brainstorm all the potential trade secrets within their respective departments. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. A trade secret can be anything from a customer list to a manufacturing process. Document everything in a centralized repository.
Step 4: Review and Prioritize
Once you have a comprehensive list of potential trade secrets, you’ll need to review and prioritize them. This is where you’ll separate the “crown jewels” from the “nice-to-haves.” We’ll talk more about this in the next section.
Step 5: Implement Protection Measures
For each identified trade secret, you’ll need to implement reasonable protection measures. This could include things like NDAs, access controls, and employee training.
Start with the Crown Jewels
When beginning this process, start with the assets that define your competitive position. Concentrating on the most valuable trade secrets first allows the organization to reduce exposure quickly while creating a framework that can later scale to include additional assets.
Your crown jewels might include:
- Proprietary algorithms or software: The code and AI models that power your product or service and distinguish it in the market.
- Secret formulas or recipes: The proprietary combinations, materials, or processes that give your product its unique characteristics.
- Manufacturing processes: The optimized, efficient, or cost-effective methods that improve quality and yield while reducing production costs.
- Customer lists and data: The curated relationships, insights, and behavioral patterns that drive revenue and customer retention.
- Strategic business plans: The forward looking initiatives that define your company’s growth trajectory, partnerships, and competitive positioning.
By prioritizing your crown jewels, you can immediately strengthen protection where it matters most while building the foundation for a broader, organization wide trade secret management program.
Casting a Wider Net
Once the core assets are protected, broaden the search to identify less obvious but still valuable information. This stage often reveals the hidden gems that were overlooked during the initial harvest.
You can also begin exploring some of the less obvious sources of trade secrets, such as:
- Negative know-how: The experiments, methods, or approaches that proved ineffective. Understanding what does not work can be as valuable as knowing what does.
- Supplier and vendor information: The terms, processes, and trust-based relationships that underpin your supply chain and ensure consistent quality and performance.
- Marketing and sales strategies: The data-driven insights, positioning frameworks, and relationship models that define how your organization reaches and retains customers.
By casting a wider net, you ensure that no valuable intellectual property remains undocumented or unprotected. The result is a deeper, more resilient understanding of what truly drives your organization’s value.
Conclusion
Trade secret harvesting is not only about protection but also about clarity. By starting with your crown jewels and then casting a wider net, organizations can uncover, document, and protect the knowledge that drives their competitive advantage.
Those that institutionalize this process turn hidden know-how into structured intellectual capital that compounds in value over time. Those that do not often discover their worth only after they have been lost.
About Ray Miller
Ray Miller is a trusted intellectual property advisor with deep expertise across patents, trade secrets, and regulatory exclusivity strategies. He counsels clients in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, materials science, and digital therapeutics, helping them identify, protect, and optimize the value of their IP. Ray’s work spans strategic patent prosecution, manufacturing and supply considerations, and complex due diligence for commercial transactions. He advises private equity funds, Fortune 500 companies, and world-class research institutions, applying his broad scientific background to secure strong returns on innovation investments.
