A trade secret is a type of intellectual property that refers to confidential information that has economic value because it is not generally known or readily ascertainable by others, and which the owner takes reasonable measures to keep secret. Trade secrets can include formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information. To qualify as a trade secret, the information must be commercially valuable because it is secret, known only to a limited group of persons, and subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the information to keep it secret, including the use of confidentiality agreements for business partners and employees. Trade secrets are not publicly known, unlike patents, and are actively protected by the owner. Trade secrets may provide a company with a competitive advantage over its competitors and are often a product of internal research and development. Trade secrets are protected by intellectual property law, which gives the owner of a trade secret the right to restrict others from disclosing it. However, trade secret owners cannot stop others from using the same technical or commercial information if they acquired or developed such information independently by themselves through their own research and development, reverse engineering, or marketing analysis.