Sam, a bar owner in rural Concord, develops by accident one night the relatively simple formula for a new alcoholic beverage with the help of his employee Karen from Canada and they create the new alcoholic beverage.

Sam, a bar owner in rural Concord, develops by accident one night the relatively simple formula for a new alcoholic beverage with the help of his employee Karen from Canada and they create the new alcoholic beverage. The drink is simply a mixture of three common ingredients. Sam begins selling the drink, which he calls “Dawn of Fusion”™ in his bar. However, he instructs his bartenders and Karen as well not to reveal the formula to anyone and has them premix “Dawn” in the back of the bar, out of sight of customers. Sam is outraged when he learns that Webber Dean, an international distributor of alcoholic beverages, has copied his formula and is marketing it under a different name. Now, with someone with experience like Webber Dean in the beverage industry to determine the formula for “Dawn” was not a difficult task. Webber said that by looking at the drink, smelling and tasting the drink he could prepare the new alcoholic beverage.

The question here is, has Sam taken reasonable precautions?

What more could he have done to protect the ‘secret formula’ of “Dawn of Fusion”?

Is the secret so obvious to consumers that selling the product on the open market destroys protection?

Does your opinion of the case change if you learn that Dean’s representative went to Sam’s bar and bribed a bartender to disclose the formula?

What would change if Karen had offered to sell the trade secret to Webber Dean as well?