Editing Knowledge management (section)

==== Formal methods ====
Formal knowledge protection practices can take various forms, such as legal instruments or formal procedures and structures, to control which knowledge is shared and which is protected.<ref name="gast2019"/> Formal knowledge protection methods include for example: patents, trademarks, copyrights and licensing.<ref name="gast2019"/><ref name="ws2023"/><ref name="estrada2016">{{cite journal |last1=Estrada |first1=Isabel |last2=Faems |first2=Dries |last3=de Faria |first3=Pedro |title=Coopetition and product innovation performance: The role of internal knowledge sharing mechanisms and formal knowledge protection mechanisms |journal=Industrial Marketing Management |date=2016 |volume=53 |pages=56–65 |doi=10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.11.013|url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/80563452/Coopetition_and_product_innovation_performance_The_role_of_internal.pdf }}</ref>

Technical solutions to protect the knowledge fall also under the category of formal knowledge protection. Formal knowledge protection from technical viewpoint includes technical access constraints and protection of communication channels, systems, and storage.<ref name=":2"/>

While knowledge may eventually become public in some form or another, formal protection mechanisms are necessary to prevent competitors from directly utilizing it for their own gain.<ref name=":2"/> Formal protection methods are particularly effective in protecting established knowledge that can be codified and embodied in final products or services.<ref name="estrada2016"/>