For example, if a specific process of producing Compound X has been protected by a trade secret, someone else can obtain a patent or a utility model on the same invention, if the inventor arrived at that invention independently. Synonyms for PAST: years ago, antecedent, elapsed, nostalgia, previous, gone-by, days-of-yore, prior, latter, reminiscence, good old days Antonyms for PAST: present.

Since trade secrets are not made public, unlike patents, they do not provide “defensive” protection, as being prior art. Our security expert has more than ten years of experience in the industry. While a final determination of whether trade secret protection is violated or not depends on the circumstances of each individual case, in general, unfair practices in respect of secret information include industrial or commercial espionage, breach of contract and breach of confidence.Ī trade secret owner, however, cannot stop others from using the same technical or commercial information, if they acquired or developed such information independently by themselves through their own R&D, reverse engineering or marketing analysis, etc. Depending on the legal system, the legal protection of business secrets forms part of the general concept of protection against unfair competition or is based on specific provisions or case law on the protection of confidential information. Some common synonyms of event are circumstance, episode, incident, and occurrence.

Another word for previous event