By all accounts, trade secret law is now recognized as one of the major categories of intellectual property law. Less recognized, however, is the degree to which private actors are pushing the law past its traditional, market-competitive boundaries and toward an all-purpose seclusion doctrine. We argue that trade secret law today is increasingly functioning not merely as a tool to protect intellectual property against misappropriation, but often as a tool for open-ended concealment. The law is moving from trade secrecy to trade seclusion. This shift raises serious concerns, ultimately distorting the flow of information that should be available to the public.

中文翻译：

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从贸易保密到隐居

众所周知，商业秘密法现在被认为是知识产权法的主要类别之一。然而，鲜为人知的是，私人行为者在多大程度上推动法律超越其传统的、市场竞争的界限，转向通用的隔离原则。我们认为，如今的商业秘密法越来越多地发挥作用，不仅是作为保护知识产权免遭盗用的工具，而且经常作为开放式隐瞒的工具。法律正在从贸易保密转向贸易隔离。这种转变引起了严重的关注，最终扭曲了应该向公众提供的信息流。