With the explosion of domestic and international trade in the high-technology field, the issue of legal protection for the intellectual property components of high-technology products and processes has become increasingly important. While the standard protective mechanism for intellectual property has traditionally been the patent, this mechanism is often unsuitable as a means of providing effective protection for high-technology items. 1 First, many courts have difficulty fitting high-technology innovations into the framework of the patent system, which was designed to foster the more traditional smokestack industries. 2 Second, the long and complex patent application process is often not responsive to the rapid evolution of new inventions in the high-technology area. 3

This lack of patent protection does not result from a failure to recognize the value of such products and processes. As far back as 1965, commentators noted the crucial role of unpatented information and know-how in the development and transfer of technology, whether between business enterprises or sovereign States. 4 As one United Nations commentator noted," The nonpatented know-how, though in a license agreement it may appear as an implementing appendage of the patent, is often the more important and the more valuable component of the industrial property package covered." 5 High-technology firms have increasingly turned to alternative mechanisms to protect their valuable information. One such alternative has been the use of contractual restraints through trade secrecy. A 1978 survey