(1) If any person who is required to submit documents or other information to the office pursuant to the financial institutions codes, or by rule or order of the office or commission, claims that such submission contains a trade secret, such person may file with the office a notice of trade secret when the information is submitted to the office as provided in this section. Failure to file such notice constitutes a waiver of any claim by such person that the document or information is a trade secret. The notice must provide the contact information of the person claiming ownership of the trade secret. The person claiming the trade secret is responsible for updating the contact information with the office.

(a) Each page of such document or specific portion of a document claimed to be a trade secret must be clearly marked with the words “trade secret.”

(b) All material identified as a trade secret shall be segregated from all other material, such as by being sealed in an envelope clearly marked with the words “trade secret.”

(c) In submitting a notice of trade secret to the office or the Department of Financial Services, the submitting party shall include an affidavit certifying under oath to the truth of the following statements concerning all documents or information that are claimed to be trade secrets:

1. [  I consider/my company considers  ] this information a trade secret that has value and provides an advantage or an opportunity to obtain an advantage over those who do not know or use it.

2. [  I have/my company has  ] taken measures to prevent the disclosure of the information to anyone other than those who have been selected to have access for limited purposes, and [  I intend/my company intends  ] to continue to take such measures.

3. The information is not, and has not been, reasonably obtainable without [  my/our  ] consent by other persons by use of legitimate means.

4. The information is not publicly available elsewhere.

(2) If the office receives a public records request for a document or information that is marked and certified as a trade secret, the office shall promptly notify the person that certified the document as a trade secret. The notice shall be sent to the address provided with the most recent contact information provided to the office and must inform such person that, in order to avoid disclosure of the trade secret, the person must file an action in circuit court within 30 days after the date of the notice seeking a declaratory judgment that the document in question contains trade secrets and an order barring public disclosure of the document. The owner shall provide written notice to the office that the action was filed and the office may not release the documents pending the outcome of legal action. Failure to file an action within 30 days constitutes a waiver of any claim of confidentiality, and the office shall release the document as requested.

(3) The office may disclose a trade secret, together with the claim that it is a trade secret, to an officer or employee of another governmental agency whose use of the trade secret is within the scope of his or her employment.

History.—s. 10, ch. 2014-91.