Editing Intellectual property (section)

===Trade secrets===
{{Main|Trade secret}}
A trade secret is a [[formula]], practice, process, [[design]], instrument, [[pattern]], or compilation of [[information]] which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a [[business]] can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=trade secret |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trade_secret |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en |quote="The UTSA defines a 'trade secret' as: Information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process that: Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Trade secrets in the EU: What is protected? |url=https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/running-business/intellectual-property/trade-secrets/index_en.htm |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Your Europe |language=en |quote="If you possess valuable information on technology or on any other aspect of your business, you can protect it as a trade secret if the following conditions are met: the information is not known either by the public at large or by the experts of the sector in question[,] the information has commercial value[, and] you have taken steps to keep the information secret: for example, you keep it in safe storage and you have signed non-disclosure agreements with anyone that has access to it or with whom you have shared the information"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation - Part III: Basics of trade secret protection |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/wipo-guide-to-trade-secrets-and-innovation/en/part-iii-basics-of-trade-secret-protection.html |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=WIPO Guide to Trade Secrets and Innovation |language=en |quote="In general, trade secrets are confidential information, which is: not generally known among, or accessible to, the persons in the relevant business sector (“secrecy”)[,] commercially valuable because it is secret, and subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the information to keep it secret, such as the use of confidentiality agreements for business partners."}}</ref>

Trade secrets are protected by a combination of state and federal laws,{{Globalize inline|US|date=March 2025}} which prescribe a combination of civil and criminal penalties for trade secret “misappropriation”—the improper acquisition, disclosure, or use of a trade secret.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zirpoli |first=Christopher |date=January 27, 2023 |title=An Introduction to Trade Secrets Law in the United States |url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12315 |archive-url= |access-date=March 4, 2025 |website=Congresstional Research Service}}</ref>

Examples of trade secrets include [[Coca-Cola]]'s formulas for its soft drinks and the [[WD-40 Company]]'s formula for its lubricant [[WD-40]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blank |first1=Jennifer |title=Trade secret protection in the United States |url=https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/OPIATradeSecret.pdf |website=U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |publisher=USPTO, Office of Policy and International Affairs |access-date=February 13, 2025}}</ref>