As AI continues its rapid integration into everyday business workflows, it’s becoming clear: the value of innovation is only as strong as the mechanisms used to protect it. That message came through loud and clear at INTA’s recent event, The Business of Trade Secrets: Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities in the Ever-Changing World of AI.
Here are some of our top takeaways from a few of the sessions:
🔐 1. Don’t Feed the Machine What You Can’t Afford to Lose
Sugi Hadikusumo drove home a critical point: organizations should never input trade secrets into AI tools like large language models (LLMs) unless they are confident those tools uphold confidentiality. Once proprietary data is submitted to a platform outside of your control, retrieval — or deletion — is often impossible. AI is powerful, but so is its appetite for data.
⚖️ 2. Know What You’re Protecting — and How
In Trade Secrets, Employees and Everyone Else, speakers Carol Fang, Amanda Betman and Steve Mann outlined essential frameworks for distinguishing trade secrets from patentable assets. Their advice?
• Classify early and strategically: Clearly distinguish between what qualifies as a trade secret versus what should be patented to optimize protection strategies.
• Education is KEY: Those with access to trade secrets must understand their importance and the risks of improper handling.
• Establish internal Trade Secret Committees to ensure oversight across departments and third parties. Formal oversight ensures that both employees and vendors adhere to strict confidentiality guidelines and protocols.
🛡️ 3. Cybersecurity Is the New Gatekeeper
In today’s threat landscape, trade secrets are often breached digitally long before they are discussed in court. Kathryn-Ann Stamm, Raj Sachdev, and Ian Smith stressed proactive cyber hygiene as fundamental to safeguarding assets. Among the most direct advice:
• Invest in cyber insurance: Assume the breach will come.
• Keep security protocols current: Threats evolve faster than policies.
• And yes — get a password manager. It is a low-tech step with high-stakes benefits.
🎯 4. Staying Curious to Stay Prepared
Across all sessions, one message was clear: trade secret protection demands more than documentation. It requires embedded practices, cross-team alignment, and constant vigilance. It’s a reminder that protection is a process, not a box to check.
At Vaudra International, these insights are not just client-facing — they prompt us to reflect inward, too. We’re actively looking at how we can strengthen our own protocols, training, and digital practices to ensure we are not only meeting today’s standards but anticipating tomorrow’s. The more we challenge ourselves internally, the better positioned we are to support our clients with confidence, clarity, and real-world relevance.
Huge thank you to the International Trademark Association (INTA), event co-chairs, María González Gordon and Scott C. Mayhew, and their project teams, for putting together such a thoughtful and well-structured event. The conversations sparked over these two days will continue to shape how we approach protection in a world where innovation, risk, and regulation are evolving in real time.
