2025-10-08 2025-10-08 , online online, 1,280 € plus tax Donal O'Connell https://forum-institut.com/seminar/26031133-how-to-protect-and-manage-trade-secret-assets/referenten/26/26_03/26031133-seminar-trade-secret-protection_oconnell-donal.jpg How to Protect And Manage Trade Secret Assets

This online course provides essential understanding of statutory and contractual trade secret protection especially against insider and outsider theft. The online course assists in the organization of statutory and contractual instruments and helps to understand their impact on corporate life.

The Contents of the Online Course
  • Evolving developments shaping the trade secret landscape
  • Disputes and enforcement
  • Why trade secret metadata matters
  • Lessons from best-in-class organisations
  • The wider stakeholder ecosystem around trade secrets
  • The organisational roadmap for trade secret asset management


Who should attend
Are you working in a corporate patent/IP department or in IP private practice and need to know how to best protect trade secrets in your company or for your client? Then this course is for you. Knowledge of IP is required.
The Objectives of the Online Course
'Knowledge is Power' - of all the intangible assets, trade secrets are the most intangible, most valuable and most prone to theft of all. Although trade secrets have been the neglected step-child of IP, this is slowly but surely changing for a variety of reasons. They gain economic importance worldwide and drive competitive advantage and shareholder value of any corporation. Trade secrets are nowadays a very important part of any intangible asset portfolio. It is no exaggeration to say that virtually every business possesses trade secrets, regardless of whether the business is small, medium or large. These assets could and should be protected as trade secrets, but the truth is that many fail to do so properly.

This online seminar explores the subject of trade secrets and trade secret asset management. Participants will be able to reach an informed decision when to patent and when to go for trade secret protection.
Your benefit

  • You will learn to know when to patent and when to go for trade secret protection.
  • You will get an update on trade secret protection trends in key jurisdictions.
  • You will learn how to set up a trade secret asset management system.

26031133 Seminar - Trade Secret Protection

How to Protect And Manage Trade Secret Assets

Benefits
  • Excellent speaker
  • Benchmark your own system

Webcode 26031133

Book now

JETZT Buchen
Speaker

Donal O'Connell

Managing Director, Chawton Innovation Services, Chawton (UK)

Donal is the Managing Director of Chawton Innovation Services which offers consultancy in the areas of innovation and IP management. He is formerly a VP of R&D and a Director of IP at Nokia where he worked for 21 years and gained wide and varied experience in the wireless telecoms industry. Donal is also a Visiting Researcher at Imperial College Business School in London where he teaches about 'IP management'. Donal's books include 'Inside the Patent Factory' and Harvesting External Innovation'. He is also the author of a book on trade secrets titled 'A Little Paranoia Goes A Long Way' which was published in 2025. He is also written a large number of papers on various aspects of innovation and IP. Since 2013, Donal has been included into the IAM 300. He is a graduate from NIHE Limerick (now The University of Limerick) in Ireland in '85, with a Degree in Electronic Engineering.

Everything at a glance

Appointment

19/03/2026

19/03/2026

Period

09:00 to 17:00 CET

09:00 to 17:00 CET
Venue

online

online

Downloads
BROCHURE
BROCHURE
Fee

Event - 1,280 € plus tax
The fee includes the 'live' participation via internet, high-quality course material for download, a participation certificate as well as technical support including a test meeting.

Event - 1,280 € plus tax
The fee includes the 'live' participation via internet, high-quality course material for download, a participation certificate as well as technical support including a test meeting.

Inhouse-offers
Request inhouse-offer
Request inhouse-offer

Book now

Your contact

Jean-Claude Alexandre Ho, LL.M.
Lawyer, Conference Manager

+49 6221 500-675
jc.alexandreho@forum-institut.de

Details

This online course provides essential understanding of statutory and contractual trade secret protection especially against insider and outsider theft. The online course assists in the organization of statutory and contractual instruments and helps to understand their impact on corporate life.

The Contents of the Online Course

  • Evolving developments shaping the trade secret landscape
  • Disputes and enforcement
  • Why trade secret metadata matters
  • Lessons from best-in-class organisations
  • The wider stakeholder ecosystem around trade secrets
  • The organisational roadmap for trade secret asset management


Who should attend
Are you working in a corporate patent/IP department or in IP private practice and need to know how to best protect trade secrets in your company or for your client? Then this course is for you. Knowledge of IP is required.

The Objectives of the Online Course

'Knowledge is Power' - of all the intangible assets, trade secrets are the most intangible, most valuable and most prone to theft of all. Although trade secrets have been the neglected step-child of IP, this is slowly but surely changing for a variety of reasons. They gain economic importance worldwide and drive competitive advantage and shareholder value of any corporation. Trade secrets are nowadays a very important part of any intangible asset portfolio. It is no exaggeration to say that virtually every business possesses trade secrets, regardless of whether the business is small, medium or large. These assets could and should be protected as trade secrets, but the truth is that many fail to do so properly.

This online seminar explores the subject of trade secrets and trade secret asset management. Participants will be able to reach an informed decision when to patent and when to go for trade secret protection.

Your benefit

  • You will learn to know when to patent and when to go for trade secret protection.
  • You will get an update on trade secret protection trends in key jurisdictions.
  • You will learn how to set up a trade secret asset management system.

Detailed programme

09:00 to 17:00 CET

Defining a trade secret
  • Examining confidentiality, economic value, and reasonable protective measures
  • Trade secrets across major jurisdictions - US, Europe, China, Japan, Russia
  • Recognised exceptions

Evolving developments affecting trade secrets
  • Legislative changes in key jurisdictions
  • Rising volumes of litigation
  • Tax considerations relating to trade secrets
  • Patent law reform and its interplay
  • Open innovation and its connection to trade secrets
  • Shifts in employment models
  • Technological advances
  • Cybercrime threats
  • Trade tensions and sanctions

Disputes and litigation
  • Selected case studies
  • The anatomy of a trade secret lawsuit
  • Requirements of 'reasonable particularity'
  • Key facts and figures

The current picture inside most companies
  • Recent surveys and what they show
  • Benchmark insights

High-performing organisations
  • Hallmarks of best-in-class practice

The importance of trade secret metadata
  • What 'trade secret metadata' means
  • Illustrative examples
  • Practical use cases

Stakeholders with an interest in trade secrets
  • IP insurers
  • Litigation funders
  • Tax authorities
  • Investors

The organisational journey towards effective trade secret asset management
  • The trade secret asset-management maturity ladder
  • First practical steps
  • Designing and running pilot projects

Agenda

Timetable

The agenda has been adapted specifically to the medium and the respective seminar. It is as follows:

09:00 CET Start of the course
10:15 CET Break
12:30 CET Lunch break
15:30 CET Break
17:00 CET End of the course

6.5 hours CPD/pursuant to Section 15 FAO

At this event, participants will receive a certificate confirming 6.5 hours CPD/pursuant to Section 15 FAO (German Rules on Certified Specialist Lawyers].

Benefits of a FORUM Institut training course

FORUM Institut’s all-in-one training platform uses the latest teaching methods.
All our online training courses take place in the Learning Space, our holistic learning environment with many features that promote effective and sustainable learning.

  • Live and interactive learning on our Learning Space training platform
  • A platform with many features: events rooms, chat, course agendas and documents, surveys, workshop rooms and much more
  • Easy surveys with Slido
  • ‘Deluxe’ chat: group chats, one-to-one chats, one-to-one video chats
  • A central repository for documents and media
  • Other services and apps such as Padlet and Mentimeter available directly on the platform
  • The perfect marriage of teaching methods and technology
  • High level of interactivity with plenty of opportunity for questions
  • Continuous support throughout the event to ensure the most effective learning
  • Free technical pre-meeting to start off your training on the right foot

Technical requirements

You need a reliable Internet connection to take part in our online events. To have the best possible learning experience, we recommend that you use the latest version of the Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browsers. You will need a headset, loudspeaker or telephone to play the audio. Further information is available here. Please check beforehand that your microphone or headset and camera are working properly. Do not access our services from a VPN since there are issues with the audio over such connections.

We have integrated Zoom video conferencing software into our Learning Space for our online training courses. If you are not authorised to use Zoom, please get in touch with us so we can make alternative arrangements for you to take part in our online training.

Free pre-meeting and technology check

You can attend one of our pre-meetings and explore our Learning Space free of charge. Registration is not required. You can find available dates for a pre-meeting in your customer portal. Click the green ‘Participate’ button in the pre-meeting in the customer portal and you will be redirected to the Learning Space.

The pre-meeting gives you the opportunity to explore our Learning Space and to familiarise yourself with the technology to start off your online training on the right foot. This is a non-binding offer for all our customers and not a prerequisite for participation. If a pre-meeting date does not suit you but you would still like a technology check, please contact us.

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Testimonials

Testimonial
'He is in my opinion one of the persons at global level that knows the most about trade secrets. Donal is also very generous with his time and knowledge and a great colleague to call when in doubt about trade secrets.'

Robertha Höglund, Head of IP

Elkem AS