U.S. Trade Secrecy Index (1970-2018)
A dataset measuring trade secret protection across U.S. states, updating the index developed by Png (2017).
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The Trade Secrecy Index follows the coding framework in Table S2 of the Supplementary Appendix to Png (2017). Our update draws on more recent editions of the principal legal treatise used to construct the original index (Malsberger et al., 2015, 2018, 2019), supplemented by court cases, state statutes, and legal articles.
The dataset includes minor revisions to Png’s original coding for selected years where our assessment of the legal sources differs. These revisions affect one of the six index components in Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and two components in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For states that permit punitive damages without specifying a numerical cap on the damages multiple, we follow Png’s convention and code the multiple as 10×. This value is a coding convention and does not indicate a statutory cap. The original dataset used as the starting point for this update is available on Png’s website.
If you use this dataset in your work, please cite both papers:
- Seo, E. & Dinkel, C. (2026). Knowledge protection and modularity of innovation activities in firms: Evidence from U.S. trade secrecy law. Strategic Management Journal. Forthcoming.
- Png, I. P. (2017). Secrecy and patents: Theory and evidence from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Strategy Science, 2(3), 176–193.