Google 42 secret
Others may also know of it independently, as, for example, when they have discovered the process or formula by independent invention and are keeping it secret. He may likewise communicate it to others pledged to secrecy. He may, without losing his protection, communicate it to employees involved in its use. It is not requisite that only the proprietor of the business know it. Substantially, a trade secret is known only in the particular business in which it is used.
Matters which are completely disclosed by the goods which one markets cannot be his secret. Matters of public knowledge or of general knowledge in an industry cannot be appropriated by one as his secret. The subject matter of a trade secret must be secret.
GOOGLE 42 SECRET CODE
It may, however, relate to the sale of goods or to other operations in the business, such as a code for determining discounts, rebates or other concessions in a price list or catalogue, or a list of specialized customers, or a method of bookkeeping or other office management. Generally it relates to the production of goods, as, for example, a machine or formula for the production of an article. A trade secret is a process or device for continuous use in the operations of the business. It differs from other secret information in a business (see s759 of the Restatement of Torts which is not included in this Appendix) in that it is not simply information as to single or ephemeral events in the conduct of the business, as, for example, the amount or other terms of a secret bid for a contract or the salary of certain employees, or the security investments made or contemplated, or the date fixed for the announcement of a new policy or for bringing out a new model or the like. It may be a formula for a chemical compound, a process of manufacturing, treating or preserving materials, a pattern for a machine or other device, or a list of customers. A trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in one's business, and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. The following is a reprint of the Restatement of Torts section 757, comment b (1939): b.