Why the Threshold Question Determines Everything
Trade-secret cases are often won or lost at the threshold. If the information at issue qualifies as a trade secret under Nevada's UTSA (NRS 600A.030), the plaintiff has powerful injunctive remedies. If it doesn't, the case generally collapses into a contract or fiduciary-duty dispute with much narrower relief.
What Qualifies as a Trade Secret
Under Nevada's UTSA, a trade secret is information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known and is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. The two prongs operate together: information that's freely available isn't a trade secret no matter how protected, and information that's protected by NDA isn't a trade secret if it's not actually valuable.
- Customer lists with detailed pricing and history (yes)
- General customer lists with names only (usually no)
- Internal source code (yes)
- General industry know-how the employee already had (no)
- Manufacturing processes (yes)
- Information disclosed in marketing materials (no)
The "Reasonable Efforts" Element Is Where Cases Break
Plaintiffs lose more cases on "reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy" than on any other prong. The court asks whether the company actually treated the information as confidential — NDAs in place, access controls, exit interviews documenting return of materials, employee training, marked-confidential documents. A company that didn't bother with these steps cannot ask the court to treat the information as a trade secret after the fact.
The DTSA Federal Overlay
Since 2016 the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act has provided a parallel federal cause of action. In practice, many trade-secret plaintiffs file under both statutes — federal jurisdiction provides access to federal court for cases that wouldn't otherwise qualify, and the DTSA offers an ex parte civil seizure remedy that NRS 600A doesn't.
Practical Protection Steps
If you're protecting trade secrets, the work happens before the dispute. Maintain a written list of what the company treats as a trade secret. Restrict access on a need-to-know basis. Get NDAs from every employee and contractor with access. Conduct exit interviews and document the return of confidential materials. Without these baseline steps, a UTSA claim is hard to bring.