the.com/trade secret
the recipe stays secret as long as everyone shuts up forever.
means legally protected business information that has value precisely because competitors do not know it.
from emerged from common law unfair competition doctrine in the 1800s, formalized in the us via the uniform trade secrets act of 1979 and the 2016 defend trade secrets act; coca-cola's formula is the cliché example, locked in an atlanta vault since 1925.
no expirationunlike patents, protection lasts as long as secrecy does
no registrationyou cannot file for one, only guard it
google's algorithmpartly trade secret, partly patent, never fully public
lost foreverone leak and legal protection evaporates instantly