Definition
Trade secret
A trade secret is confidential business information that gains its value from not being publicly known and is protected by keeping it secret.
Trade secrets include any valuable business information that derives its value from secrecy.
In Canada, there is no formal intellectual property process for protecting a trade secret. To protect and benefit from trade secrets, a business must:
- Obtain business value from the secret
- Keep the business information a secret
- Take all possible measures to ensure that the business information remains a secret
Trade secrets can potentially last forever, provided the information actually remains a secret. Once the secret is out, the business value is usually lost and the trade secret protection ends.
For more information about trade secrets, visit the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) website.