Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Keeping the Trade secrets without patent

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Unlike many commercial products, WD-40 was never patented. This wasn't an oversight—it was a strategic decision. By skipping a patent, the creators ensured that the formula wouldn’t be made public. Patents require full disclosure of ingredients and processes, and once they expire, competitors are free to duplicate the product.


WD-40’s makers chose long-term secrecy over temporary legal protection. This approach has worked for decades: though the product hit the market in 1958, its exact contents remain largely unknown. While some components like petroleum-based solvents are speculated, the full formulation is still locked in a vault at company headquarters.


This decision has also helped WD-40 develop a kind of mystique. Its versatility from loosening bolts to stopping squeaks to displacing moisture—is widely praised, yet its recipe remains out of reach. This kind of secrecy is rare in the chemical product industry, where patents are the norm.


The formula has been tested, reverse-engineered, and analyzed over the years, but no copy has gained the same traction. With no patent to read and no requirement to disclose more than the minimum for safety labeling, WD-40 remains one of the best-kept trade secrets in consumer goods.


source : CTTO / Regis W George III


#tradesecrets #brand

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