Say I come up with a new power control loop for wireless devices. ... If I put it in a radio and sell it, someone can reverse-engineer the firmware and copy the design of the power control loop. Trade secrets won't protect me. ... Imagine the situation: I go up to Raytheon and say "I've got a great power control loop, I'll sell it to you for $50m." And they say "well, how does it work? We're not paying $50m without understanding what we're buying." And you say "well pay me first than I'll tell you!"
I think that this situation could be resolved with a careful NDA and later a license, but you've provided some compelling examples that I think are worth discussing. Perhaps the end of software patents comes with a new sort of hybrid of trade secret and license? The only way to keep things safe in the future appears to be keeping valuable things secret (ask any DRM provider). Even now, how would you enforce a patent against a competitor with a DoD contract, or abstractly with a military contract in another country? The invisibility of software complicates patent enforcement, but not trade secret or licensing.
I think that this situation could be resolved with a careful NDA and later a license, but you've provided some compelling examples that I think are worth discussing. Perhaps the end of software patents comes with a new sort of hybrid of trade secret and license? The only way to keep things safe in the future appears to be keeping valuable things secret (ask any DRM provider). Even now, how would you enforce a patent against a competitor with a DoD contract, or abstractly with a military contract in another country? The invisibility of software complicates patent enforcement, but not trade secret or licensing.