Trade secrets are intellectual property rights on confidential information.
Unlike patents, they do not require a registration to fall under protection. A trade secret can be kept for an unlimited period of protection and continues to be considered so for the length of time that an owner of such information keeps it classified as a secret.
The owner of information should protect it using an NDA with employees and business partners, non-compete agreements with employees, contractors, and consultants, sound IT security systems, and controlling the number of people with access to confidential documents.