No, I cannot, if I know or have reason to know it is a trade secret. (The misconception that the law allows the equivalent of "secrets laundering" is still far too pervasive.)
The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (the law in most states) defines misappropriation as:
(i) acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or
(ii) disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied consent by a person who
(A) used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or
(B) at the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know that his knowledge of the trade secret was
(I) derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire it;
(II) acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
(III) derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or
(C) before a material change of his [or her] position, knew or had
reason to know that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake.
> Yes; in order for trade secrets to be protected, they have to be secret.
This is not true. See the Uniform Trade Secrets Act for the full text. People who know or have reason to know that the information is a secret are bound by the law, and the definition of "trade secret" does not require that the information never have been disclosed to an unauthorized person.
