proprietary

Definitions

Relating to an owner or ownership; held as private property.

Manufactured and sold by a particular company under a trademark or patent.

Relating to a product that is protected by secrecy or copyright and cannot be used or copied without permission.

Examples

The software company uses a proprietary algorithm to protect its data from competitors.

The chef refused to share the recipe, claiming it was a proprietary blend of secret spices.

Synonyms

exclusive privately owned patented copyrighted controlled restricted

Antonyms

public non-proprietary open source unrestricted common generic