Mr. Krabs zealously guards the secret of his secret sauce in his krabby pattys, which he sells in his restaurant, The Krusty KrabPlankton seeks to steal the recipe for his rival restaurant, The Chum Bucket.  Mr. Krabs observes an important tenet of trade secrets, in that he maintains the confidentiality of the secret sauce recipe, and has forbade his employees, including SpongeBob, from telling Plankton the secret.  If Plankton were to lawfully purchase a krabby patty, he could lawfully reverse engineer the recipe.  However, Mr. Krabby has barred Plankton from buying one.

Can Mr. Krabs lawfully refuse to sell Plankton a krabby patty?

If Plankton takes control of SponeBob’s brain (see episode 3), thus controlling his actions, and secures a krabby patty in that manner, can he lawfully reverse engineer the secret sauce?