I'm not trying to debate the merits of trade secrets and the patent system. I was simply making the point that if you have a market where consumers don't have a

I'm not trying to debate the merits of trade secrets and the patent system. I was simply making the point that if you have a market where consumers don't have access to perfect information, it is not a free market. The term "Free Market" has a very specific definition. Information accessibility is a very important part of that definition. It is very difficult for all the criteria to be met, so you will never find a perfectly free market outside textbooks. People talk about "free markets" all the time, especially business lobbyists/PR. Usually they use the term "free market" to mean the government should get the hell out of their way, but they often don't really want a free market (especially if they are the incumbents). They have effectively co-opted the term to help their narratives, confusing people in the process.