Trade Secret

Confidential commercial information that provides a competitive advantage to the business it belongs to. 

In order to qualify as a trade secret, the relevant information must meet various criteria and the business must take various steps to protect it, such as actively maintaining confidentiality by restricting access and through the appropriate use of non-disclosure agreements (NDA).  If these requirements are satisfied the information will automatically qualify for protection as a trade secret allowing various actions to be taken against those who disclose or misappropriate the information. 

Trade secret protection is relatively weak compared to a registered right, such as a patent, because it does not prevent others from independently deriving the same information.  Furthermore, once confidentiality of the information is compromised, it will probably lose its eligibility for protection as a trade secret.  Nonetheless, in some cases, keeping information as a trade secret may be the best approach to protecting that information.