Examples of highly sought-after trade secrets

Jun072017
Peterson Watts Law Group, LLP

While trade secrets in California can be for anything, from computer algorithms to formulas, some of the most famous are for food recipes. Many of today’s major brands have some trade secret they are protecting. Most people have eaten these foods, and many may be wondering how these companies keep their recipes from being discovered or revealed.

According to Fox News, it is common for people to try to reveal secret recipes. However, few are ever successful. Bush’s Baked Beans has a well-known trade secret for its bean recipe. The company even did commercials talking about the secret, claiming only Jay Bush and his dog know it. Coca-Cola perhaps has the most sought after secret formula. Many have tried to crack it but none have succeeded. This recipe has been protected since it was created in 1886.

Today reveals McDonald’s Big Mac sauce recipe is another valued trade secret. Although it has been claimed it is just Thousand Island dressing, this is not true. The formula is a closely guarded secret that even employees do not know. Another good example is Famous Amos cookies. The recipe for these cookies is said to not be your average chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is suggested that it contains unusual ingredients. The world will never know, though, because it is kept well protected by Kellogg, who owns the brand.

It is interesting to note that there are many copycat recipes out there that seek to replicate the original recipes of many of these trade secrets. However, because they are still protected as trade secrets, nobody has actually ever cracked them.