Legal advice
In the common law, legal advice is the giving of a formal and binding opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law by an officer of the court, ordinarily in exchange for financial or other tangible compensation. Advice given without remuneration is normally referred to as being pro bono publico (in the public good), or colloquially, pro bono.
Legal advice is distinguished from legal information which is the reiteration of legal fact. Legal information can be conveyed by a parking meter, sign or by other forms of notice such as a warning by a law enforcement officer. Printed legal materials, such as directions and how-to manuals, are generally not considered legal advice. Accordingly, directions on how to fill in a motion form and other court documents do not constitute legal advice. There exist, however, some exceptions to this distinction in countries [citation needed]where the law is considered to be a trade secret and the public process a business owned and operated by the legal profession.
Trade secret
Definition
A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete non-disclosure contracts with its employees. The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent or trademark. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.
The sanctioned protection of such type of information from public disclosure is viewed as an important legal aspect by which a society protects its overall economic vitality. A company typically invests time and energy (work) into generating information regarding refinements of process and operation. If competitors had access to the same knowledge, the first company's ability to survive or maintain its market dominance would be impaired. Where trade secrets are recognised, the creator of property regarded as a "trade secret" is entitled to regard such "special knowledge" as intellectual property.
The precise language by which a trade secret is defined varies by jurisdiction (as do the particular types of information that are subject to trade secret protection). However, there are three factors that (though subject to differing interpretations) are common to all such definitions: a trade secret is some sort of information that:
* is not generally known to the relevant portion of the public;
* confers some sort of economic benefit on its holder (where this benefit must derive specifically from its not being generally known, not just from the value of the information itself);
* is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
Trade secrets are not protected by law in the same manner as trademarks or patents. Probably one of the most significant differences is that a trade secret is protected without disclosure of the secret.
A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete non-disclosure contracts with its employees. The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent or trademark. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.
The sanctioned protection of such type of information from public disclosure is viewed as an important legal aspect by which a society protects its overall economic vitality. A company typically invests time and energy (work) into generating information regarding refinements of process and operation. If competitors had access to the same knowledge, the first company's ability to survive or maintain its market dominance would be impaired. Where trade secrets are recognised, the creator of property regarded as a "trade secret" is entitled to regard such "special knowledge" as intellectual property.
The precise language by which a trade secret is defined varies by jurisdiction (as do the particular types of information that are subject to trade secret protection). However, there are three factors that (though subject to differing interpretations) are common to all such definitions: a trade secret is some sort of information that:
* is not generally known to the relevant portion of the public;
* confers some sort of economic benefit on its holder (where this benefit must derive specifically from its not being generally known, not just from the value of the information itself);
* is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
Trade secrets are not protected by law in the same manner as trademarks or patents. Probably one of the most significant differences is that a trade secret is protected without disclosure of the secret.
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