An Accountant's Take on Trade Secrets

From Mondaq, an article by Gary Bender from Ernst & Young called "Managing IP Risk in Accordance with Sarbanes-Oxley." The article is principally of interest in revealing the way accountants think about intellectual property including trade secrets. Keeping track of trade secrets -- and making sure they're protected -- does have some implications under Sarbanes-Oxley, although the issue is not as explicitly covered under the law as the article might lead you to believe.

Accountants also place a lot of emphasis on valuing trade secrets. In fact, they tend to talk more about valuing them than protecting them. I suspect that's because that's what accountants do.

For my money, the heavy lifting on trade secrets will always be a job for lawyers. (But then, of course, that's what I do.)