3515R08 - Appendix M - Trade Secret - Confidentiality Proprietary Information Notice Form.pdf

APPENDIX M

TRADE SECRET – CONFIDENTIAL PROPRIETARY

INFORMATION NOTICE

Trade Secret/Confidential Proprietary Information Notice

Instructions:

The Commonwealth may not assert on behalf of a third party an exception to the public release of materials that contain trade secrets or confidential proprietary information unless the materials are accompanied, at the time they are submitted, by this form or a document containing similar information.

It is the responsibility of the party submitting this form to ensure that all statements and assertions made below are legally defensible and accurate. The Commonwealth will not provide a submitting party any advice with regard to trade secret law.

Name of submitting party:

Contact information for submitting party:

Please provide a brief overview of the materials that you are submitting (e.g. bid proposal, grant application, technical schematics):

Please provide a brief explanation of why the materials are being submitted to the Commonwealth (e.g. response to bid #12345, application for grant XYZ being offered by the Department of Health, documents required to be submitted under law ABC)

Please provide a list detailing which portions of the material being submitted you believe constitute a trade secret or confidential proprietary information, and please provide an explanation of why you think those materials constitute a trade secret or confidential proprietary information. Also, please mark the submitted material in such a way to allow a reviewer to easily distinguish between the parts referenced below. (You may attach additional pages if needed)

Note: The following information will not be considered a trade secret or confidential proprietary information:

• Any information submitted as part of a vendor’s cost proposal

• Information submitted as part of a vendor’s technical response that does not pertain to specific business practices or product specification

• Information submitted as part of a vendor’s technical or small diverse business response that is otherwise publicly available or otherwise easily obtained

• Information detailing the name, quantity, and price paid for any product or service being purchased by the Commonwealth

Page Number Description Explanation

Acknowledgment

The undersigned party hereby agrees that it has read and completed this form, and has marked the material being submitted in accordance with the instructions above. The undersigned party acknowledges that the Commonwealth is not liable for the use or disclosure of trade secret data or confidential proprietary information that has not been clearly marked as such, and which was not accompanied by a specific explanation included with this form.

The undersigned agrees to defend any action seeking release of the materials it believes to be trade secret or confidential, and indemnify and hold harmless the Commonwealth, its agents and employees, from any judgments awarded against the Commonwealth in favor of the party requesting the materials, and any and all costs connected with that defense. This indemnification survives so long as the Commonwealth has possession of the submitted material, and will apply to all costs unless and until the undersigned provides a written statement or similar notice to the Commonwealth stating that it no longer wishes to exempt the submitted material from public disclosure.

The undersigned acknowledges that the Commonwealth is required to keep all records for at least as long as specified in its published records retention schedule.

The undersigned acknowledges that the Commonwealth reserves the right to reject the undersigned’s claim of trade secret/confidential proprietary information if the Commonwealth determines that the undersigned has not met the burden of establishing that the information constitutes a trade secret or is confidential. The undersigned also acknowledges that if only a certain part of the submitted material is found to constitute a trade secret or is confidential, the remainder of the submitted material will become public; only the protected information will be removed and remain nonpublic.

If being submitted electronically, the undersigned agrees that the mark below is a valid electronic signature.

Signature Title Date