This paper takes an experimental approach to the study of social norms in the context of the divulging of trade secrets in Silicon Valley. Based on data collected from 173 high-tech employees in Silicon Valley, the paper tries to advance the current knowledge in the legal scholarship with regard to the nature and limits of social norms in a legal enforcement context. After describing and analyzing the normative status of trade secret enforcement in Silicon Valley, the paper takes a three-layered approach to the normative failures in compliance with trade secrets requirements. The first level focuses on the limits of formal enforcement of trade secrets, focusing on aspects of deterrence, legitimacy, and information. The second level focuses on the limits of informal enforcement, which relates to the conflict of interest between the information-accepting and information-producing firms. In the third level, the focus is on merging the bounded rationality line of research with the social norms scholarship that suggests the potential failures that could emerge from biases in the perception of the norms. The paper concludes with preliminary suggestions for changes in the formal definitions of trade secrets.

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