World’s most famous trade secret revealed?

This week’s episode of This American Life included an interesting story about a 1979 newspaper article that appeared to reveal one of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the world:  the formula for Coca-Cola. 

In the new program, the reporters find the source of the 1979 article, and they put the formula to the test by preparing a batch and comparing it to The Real Thing.  Is it?  Listen online or download the podcast by visiting the This American Life website.

One response to “World’s most famous trade secret revealed?

  1. This story illustrates the tenuousness of trade secret IP rights. Although some are starting to view trade secret protection as a viable alternative to patent protection, trade secrets are much more vulnerable — and, once the cat is out of the bag, there is often little recourse for redressing that loss of secrecy. On the other hand, some might say that 40 years (of trade secret protection for Coke) is a pretty good run.

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