Can a company protect its innovation without ever filing a patent? In this episode, Professor Seth C. Oranburg explores how courts draw the line between fair competition and “improper means” through the landmark case E.I. duPont deNemours & Co. v. Christopher. The lecture explains why trade secret law protects reasonable—not perfect—efforts to maintain secrecy and how the concept of commercial morality shapes modern intellectual property law. The episode then turns to the strategic choice every innovator faces: whether to patent or keep an invention secret. Using Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp., Professor Oranburg shows how U.S. law allows firms to balance disclosure and secrecy to optimize innovation. By the end, listeners will understand when patents make sense, when secrecy is smarter, and how to counsel clients through this pivotal decision.

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