Trade Secret Trends To Watch In 2026

Kurt Calia’s commentary was included in a Law360 article examining key trade secret issues expected to shape litigation in 2026. The piece highlights emerging questions around artificial intelligence and proprietary information, including whether prompt injection attacks on AI systems constitute reverse engineering or misappropriation.

“Reverse engineering is generally not considered an act of misappropriation, so if you can craft a bunch of prompts that tricks the AI into revealing something about itself, is that an act of reverse engineering or is that an act of appropriation?” Kurt said. He added that AI will raise fundamental questions about what is protectable, “Are these prompts and algorithms and instructions individually protectable, or are they so interconnected that you have to look at them as a whole?”