I often get asked how can I protect my secret recipe/ my unique biz method/ my software.  To fully understand how you can best protect your business secrets, it is best to really understand what is the difference between confidential information and trade secrets. Confidential information is an overarching word used to describe any information confidential to you. Things like your financials and marketing plans, customer and supplier lists come under the general category of confidential information. However, if “confidential information” was a bucket, inside that bucket would be a cup with  “trade secrets”.  Trade secrets include highly secret information like the Coke recipe, or the Google algorithm; imagine if you knew these! Trade secrets could be a secret manufacturing process, software source code, a unique tool, a raw material that is unique, a formula of ingredients for a particular product, an invention before filing a patent, or a business method… you get the idea.  There’s a bit of a hierarchy where trade secrets rank higher than general confidential information. For information to go from being confidential information to rise to the level of being a trade secret, it should not be known outside the business, it should be of