Can trade secrets protect software after it has been made public?

Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property that relies on confidentiality to provide protection. For a piece of information to qualify as a trade secret, it must be kept confidential, as losing that confidentiality typically results in the loss of trade secret protection. When software is made public, it is no longer guarded as a secret, and thus the ability to claim trade secret protection is effectively lost. This principle applies universally, meaning that once the information is disclosed or otherwise becomes accessible to the public, the original owner can no longer assert a trade secret claim over that information.

In contrast, protecting software through copyright or patents remains possible even after public disclosure, provided the requisite criteria for such protections are met. However, trade secret law specifically hinges on the concept of maintaining secrecy, making the public release of software incompatible with trade secret protections. Therefore, the assertion that protection is lost once made public aligns with established legal principles regarding trade secrets.