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Does material nonpublic information cover knowledge of unannounced products?
So is knowledge of unannounced products simply not considered material nonpublic information? Well "material" is relative but it certainly is nonpublic information.  And trading based on that information would likely be considered illegal if it is actually material.   Many companies require that employees with material non-public info get stock trades approved by their legal department.  This protects not only the employee but the employer from SEC scrutiny.  If the legal department determines that the employee has non-public info that is the genesis of the stock trade, they might deny the request. In many cases these employees receive stock through ESPP, ISO and/or RSUs and often sell while in possession of information about unannounced products. Just receiving stock as part of as part of a compensation program would not be illegal, provided it was part of a normal compensation package and not deliberately awarded in advance of these types of events. Selling or outright buying stock (including RSUs) with that kind of information would certainly be scrutinized.  An employee is granted RSUs, they vest 7 months before announcement of a new product. The employee knows the exact specifications of the product. If they sell the vested stock before the announcement would this constitute insider trading or not? Why? The law is not meant to prevent people from investing in their own company just because they know future plans.  So knowledge of an announcement 7 months out may not be considered material.  If, however, you sold stock the day (or a week) before some announcement that caused the stock to fall, then that would probably be scrutinized.  Or, if you traded shortly before an announcement of a new, revolutionary product that was set to be released in seven months, and the stock rose, then you might be scrutinized. So there is a lot of gray area, but remember that the spirit of the law is to prevent people from benefiting unfairly with non-public information.  It would be hard to prove that gaining on a stock trade 7 months before a product announcement would be considered "unfair gain".  A lot can happen in that time.