Procedural Knowledge or
Trade Secrets (Know how)

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.

Source: Procedural Knowledge on WikiPedia 

Trade Secrets

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.

Source: Intellectual Property on Entrepreneur.Com


More Intellectual Property Terms: Copyright | Domain Name | Geographical Indication | Industrial Design Rights | Intellectual Property | Know How | Moral Rights | Patent | Personality Rights | Procedural Knowledge | Registered Designs | Trade DressTrade Secrets | Trademark | Traditional Knowledge