Definition of trade secret law
As I've already warned you, the legal definition of a trade secret is different from state to state. Many states happen to have adopted a uniform definition, so I'll start with that. According to the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, or the UTSA, a trade secret is information, including a formula, pattern, compiliation, program, device, method, technique, or process that derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known or readily ascertainable, through appropriate means, by persons who might obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and is the subject of efforts that are reasonable, under the circumstances, to maintain its secrecy.
We might make this a shorter statement by saying that a trade secret, under the UTSA, is any confidential information that has value from being confidential, where reasonable efforts were made to keep it a secret. It's confidential, valuable from being confidential, and you do your best to keep it a secret. There are about 40 of the 50 states using.
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/understanding-trade-secrets-a-deeper-dive/definition-of-trade-secret-law