Trade secret is a confidential process, method, design, or collection of information that one business uses to compete with other businesses. There are many types of trade secrets. For example, a company’s recipe for a kind of cola is an important trade secret in the soft drink industry. In other industries, trade secrets might include a list of people who subscribe to a journal or website, a specific method for manufacturing an item, or a certain type of computer software.
Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property—that is, they are products of human creativity over which individuals or groups exercise legal control. Under most intellectual property systems, it is illegal for one business to steal trade secrets from another. To receive trade secret protection, information must have economic value, and it must not be widely known or readily available. Most countries throughout the world have laws that regulate trade secrets. In the United States, trade secrets are protected by state laws.
See also Intellectual property .
