Trade Secret/Proprietary Notice

Detects trade secret designations, proprietary information notices, and commercial-in-confidence markings.

Type

regex

Confidence

medium

Confidence justification

Medium confidence: keyword-based detection requires corroborative evidence for accurate identification.

Jurisdictions

global

Regulations

AML/CTF Act (Cth), IPA 2009 (Qld), Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)

Frameworks

ISO 27001, NIST CSF, PCI-DSS

Data categories

intellectual-property, confidential

Scope

narrow

Risk rating

8

Should match

• TRADE SECRET — Low-tier probe - designation without handling or ownership language
• COMMERCIAL-IN-CONFIDENCE: restricted distribution; do not copy. — Medium-tier probe - notice plus restricted-use language
• CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY: restricted distribution; property of Acme; unauthorised disclosure prohibited; return or destroy. — High-tier probe - restricted use plus ownership and confidentiality obligations

Should not match

• Proprietary blend of spices — Product-description sibling
• The secret ingredient is love — Incidental prose
• The public encyclopedia explains what a trade secret is. — Public commentary contains only the designation
• Template example: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY, restricted distribution, property of Acme, return or destroy. — Boilerplate template contains otherwise high-tier evidence

Known false positives

• Generic use of proprietary or secret in non-business contexts. Mitigation: Require legal/business marking keywords like do not distribute or Commercial-in-Confidence.