Abstract
This Comment will explore the current landscape surrounding trade secret protections in Wisconsin Open Records Law requests. The lack of access to state-protected trade secrets, and overall lack of transparency, effectively endangers the general health and safety of the Wisconsin public and environment. When a request is made for information under the Wisconsin Open Records Law pertaining to state information protected by trade secret, and the requester is denied access to such information due to its trade secrecy status, the state should have to disclose trade secret information if it poses a greater danger to environmental health, human health, or public safety than the commercial value of such information. Other literature has addressed several public policy concerns for the health and safety of people across the nation and globally. Much of the preexisting literature specifically disucsses trade secrecy protection and public policy concerns as it relates to enlvironmental law, health law, and food safety, often describing broad federal approaches to address the matter. This Comment, however, seeks to impose a burden shifting approach and public interest test for state trade secret information through a specialized appeals process to encourage further transparency for matters which may be harmful to Wisconsin citizens. Public records requests play a crucial role in providing the public with information, and more importantly, transparency, as a function of a well-oiled democracy. Trade secret protected information that poses harms to environmental health, human health, and public safety should be transparent and accessible to Wisconsin citizens.
Repository Citation
Amelia S. Murray,
Not All Sunshine in Wisconsin: The Cloudy Public Disclosure Predicament Surrounding Trade Secrets,
30
Marq. Intell. Prop. & Innovation L. Rev.
277
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/ipilr/vol30/iss2/6