Whether Information is Generally Known is a Question of Fact
Whether the subject information is generally known to the public or competitors is a question of fact. (Thompson v. Impaxx, Inc. (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 1425, 1430 (“The issue of whether information constitutes a trade secret is a question of fact.”).) Again, as the Altavion court held, “…even if some or all of the elements of Altavion’s design were in the public domain and thus unprotectable, the combination was a protectable trade secret if it was secret and had independent economic value.” (Emphasis original) (Altavion, Inc. v. Konica Minolta Systems Laboratory Inc. (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 26, 47.)
So, the first inquiry is whether or not the information is “generally known” to the public or competitors. However, even if some aspect is “generally known,” a novel or unique combination of the information may remove it from the “generally known” into a trade secret.
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