However, he was impressed with Jason's acknowledgement of his earlier immaturity and his apparent desire to do serious work. So he decided to send it. He pointed out to Jason that, although the research was now complete, it had not turned out as he had hoped, and he had no plans to do further work in the area. However, he wished Jason well in his graduate work and hoped that this report might be of some help in giving him new ideas. Many companies consider information a form of asset.
Proprietary information is information which a company or organization owns or is the proprietor of.
Normally it refers to new knowledge generated within the organization which can be legally protected from use by others. A trade secret can be virtually any type of information which has not become public and which a company has taken steps to keep secret. Jason has no proprietary right to the information developed by Prof. Nice and in whose development he participated in a minor way. That information is proprietary to the university or the sponsor who funded the research work. When Prof. Nice receives a request from Jason he must get clearance from the owner of the proprietary information before sending a copy to Jason.