trade secret

A trade secret is any information, design, device, process, composition, technique, or formula that is not publicly known, and that provides those who know it with a competitive business advantage. Trade secrets are potentially unlimited in duration, but protection is lost if someone else discovers the information either independently or by analyzing or dissecting a product ("reverse engineering"). Like copyright and trademarks, trade secrets do not need to be registered with or granted by any government agencies; the inventor or company holding the information merely has to make a reasonable effort to keep their secrets secret. Trade secret protection is a state right under the Uniform Trade Secret Act or similar state laws, and it mainly provides relief in the case of an information leak to competitors. In order to warrant such relief in a court case, information must be shown to be both commercially valuable and far enough removed from general knowledge that it is reasonably difficult to discover. Also, a company must show that it has been diligent in keeping its information secret. Since patented inventions are made publicly available upon granting of the patent, patent protection and trade secret protection are mutually exclusive; however, since patent applications are kept confidential until and unless they are approved, an invention can remain a trade secret if the patent application is rejected. Types of trade secrets include chemical formulas or recipes (such as soda or cosmetics formulas), and manufacturing processes or techniques (such as how to make fireworks or form the eye of a sewing needle).

Information kept secret by an organization for the purpose of maintaining a competitive advantage.

information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors