IP Law: Trade Secrets

Each Restatement or Principles topic is updated by an annual gathering of short synopses of judicial rulings or decisions in which the court has explicitly employed the Restatement or Principles in its decision-making. Whether followed, followed in part, criticized, or rejected, the Restatements and Principles are widely cited, ignored at peril. These annual compilations of case annotations are useful in determining the scope and value of Restatement and Principles formulations. (Thomas Reuters).

Restatements are some of the most important commentaries on American law. Restatements are prepared and edited by the American Law Institute. The are to "Present an orderly restatement of the general common law of the United States, including that term not only the law developed solely by judicial decision, but also law that has grown from the application by the court of statutes that were generally enacted and were in force for many years." (Morris Cohen, Legal Research In a Nutshell 4th ed). Restatements are divided into sections, each of which contains a "black letter" general statement of law followed by an explanatory comment on the general principles, and then illustrated by examples of particular cases and variations on the general proposition. Restatements typically include appendices containing Reporter's Notes, notes of decisions citing the first series, and A.L.R. annotations.