Title: Human capital principles underlying the legal protection of trade secrets as intellectual property

Authors: A. Vijayalakshmi Venugopal

Addresses: Taylor's Law School, Taylor's University, No. 1 Jalan Taylor's, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Abstract: This article explores links between human capital principles and employers' legal rights to protect trade secrets as intellectual property. Many judges deciding legal disputes on the ownership and use of trade secrets appear to use principles that are reminiscent of human capital literature. This suggests that human capital principles can also be used to justify and appreciate the judicial approaches in determining an equitable balance between employers' and employees' legal rights in owning and using trade secrets.

Keywords: human capital; trade secrets; law; intellectual property.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2022.124875

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2022 Vol.22 No.3/4, pp.197 - 222

Accepted: 24 Feb 2022
Published online: 13 Aug 2022 *

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