RESOLVED, IPO is concerned about the potential adverse impact that new legislation and regulation may have on trade secrets and other intellectual property rights. IPO supports legislation and regulation consistent with the following principles:
- Trade secrets and other intellectual property rights are important property rights that should be protected. Protecting trade secrets encourages business development and development that ultimately results in higher quality products and new technologies that benefit the public welfare;
- Congress has consistently protected trade secrets and other intellectual property rights in the past, and new legislation or regulation which respects these same rights is consistent with historical public policy goals and prior legislation and regulation;
- Any legislative provisions voiding or restricting either secrecy agreements or agreements limiting the dissemination of information should be crafted narrowly;
- Legislation and regulation should protect the public welfare but be narrowly tailored to prevent unnecessary public disclosure of trade secrets or confidential information; and
- A determination that the public welfare necessitates the disclosure of trade secrets or confidential information should be subject to an adequate review process.
