CA · jury_instructions
CACI No. 4420
Affirmative Defense—Information Was Readily Ascertainable
by Proper Means
[Name of defendant] did not misappropriate [name of plaintiff]’s trade
secret[s] if [name of defendant] proves that the [select short term to
describe, e.g., information] [was/were] readily ascertainable by proper
means at the time of the alleged [acquisition/use/ [or] disclosure].
There is no fixed standard for determining what is “readily ascertainable
by proper means.” In general, information is readily ascertainable if it
can be obtained, discovered, developed, or compiled without significant
difficulty, effort, or expense. For example, information is readily
ascertainable if it is available in trade journals, reference books, or
published materials. On the other hand, the more difficult information is
to obtain, and the more time and resources that must be expended in
gathering it, the less likely it is that the information is readily
ascertainable by proper means.
New December 2007; Revised December 2009
Provenance
- Source
- courts.ca.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- caci-2022
- Content hash
433b3de386cecd5172c9155e1a6d72b6b995dc2e174f7a16f86d981f42ccbf31
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