"Trade Secret" shall mean a formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in one's business and which gives one the opportunity to obtain advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. A plan or process, tool, mechanism or compound known only to its owner and those of his employees to whom it is necessary to confide. A secret formula or process not patented, but known only to certain individuals using it and compounding some article of trade having a commercial value.
135 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 1, § 016