I have often thought exactly what you describe, even more I think in an alternate history this would actually be close to the "intellectual property" policy: it

I have often thought exactly what you describe, even more I think in an alternate history this would actually be close to the "intellectual property" policy: it is not the governments role to enforce intellectual policy, while it is the role of science to try and understand all phenomena natural or man-made. It would be legal for private entities (individuals or companies) to try to keep a business secret, but it would not be illegal for others to investigate, reverse-engineer and reproduce (even commercially) what others have done. Since scientific discovery into the public domain would be rewarded by the public, it would still be feasible for private individuals to maintain a business secret for as long as no one reverse engineers it. But it would de facto result in organizations being unable to profit from business secrets (since any member of the organization could publish the company secret to the public for a reward without facing consequences). This should prevent monopolies from arising, and encourages smaller companies and open collaboration.