II. Commercial or Financial Information

In addition to trade secrets, Exemption 4 also applies to an independent category of records. An agency may also withhold information that is: “(1) commercial or financial; (2) obtained from a person, and (3) privileged or confidential.”¹⁸ You should challenge the government’s conclusions on all three elements.

¹⁸ Skybridge Spectrum Found. v. Fed. Commc’ns Comm’n, No. 10-01496, 2012 WL 336160 at *12 (D.D.C. 2012).