In intellectual property law, procedural knowledge is a parcel of
closely-held information relating to industrial technology, sometimes also
referred to as a trade secret which enables its user to derive commercial
benefit from it. It is a component of the intellectual property rights on
its own merits in most legislations but most often accompanies the license to
the right-of-use of patents or trademarks owned by the party releasing it for
circumscribed use. Procedural knowledge is not however solely comprised of
secret information that is not in the public domain; it is a "bundled"
parcel of secret and related non-secret information which would be novel to an
expert in the field of its usage.
Trade secrets refer to items such as recipes that are unique and provide a
business with a competitive advantage, but which cannot be safeguarded under
current forms of idea protection such as copyright, trademark or patent.
The best form of protection for these items is to keep them a secret. One
of the most famous and best-kept trade secrets is the formula for Coca-Cola.
Many people think that a trade secret is some type of protection provided by
the government that allows them to seek recourse in court should someone
infringe upon their idea. However, unlike copyrights, trademarks and
patents, a trade secret is not registered with any government office to provide
a verifiable public record of any claims to the secret. You can, however,
declare one to a patent lawyer in a notarized and signed disclosure. In this
manner the trade secret belongs to you forever--or until someone leaks it.