The problem with trade secrets is that they&#x27;re never made public, and can be lost if the person holding them dies. If they&#x27;re granted a monopoly on the secret in exchange for publicly documenting the secret, then the rest of the world is better off once the patent period expires - the trade secret is now trade public knowledge.<p>The problem is that if they make up a BS &quot;trade secret&quot;, they can get benefits without actually having anything to contribute, which is the textbook definition of rent-seeking.