1. How to sentence and punish the crime of infringement of trade secrets
1. Confidentiality means that personnel who previously had access to the company's trade secrets no longer have access to the trade secrets.
2. Legal basis: Articles 38, 39, and 40 of the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" clearly define the personality of citizens The protection of dignity, residence, freedom of communication and communication confidentiality is the most fundamental basis for the protection of privacy rights in our country's laws. Article 38 stipulates: "The personal dignity of citizens of the People's Republic of China shall not be violated. It is prohibited to use any method to insult, slander, or falsely accuse citizens." Article 39 stipulates: "The residences of citizens of the People's Republic of China shall not be violated. Violated. Illegal searches or illegal intrusions into citizens’ residences are prohibited.” Article 40 stipulates: “The freedom of communication and confidentiality of communication of citizens of the People’s Republic of China are protected by law. Except for reasons of national security or the need to investigate criminal crimes, the public security organs shall Or the procuratorate will inspect the communication in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law.
2. Elements of the crime of infringement of trade secrets
1. First, the object of the act is a trade secret. A trade secret means that it is not known to the public. Technical information and business information that can bring economic benefits to the right holder, are practical and the right holder has taken confidentiality measures. According to this, trade secrets have the following characteristics.
(1) Trade secrets are a kind of technical information and business information. Technical information and business information may be carried by words, images, or physical objects, and may also exist in the human brain or operating methods. .
(2) Trade secrets are matters that are not known to the public, that is, they must be matters that are only known to people within a certain range.
(3) Trade secrets can bring economic benefits to the right holder. The right holder refers to the owner of the trade secret and the user of the trade secret with the permission of the owner of the trade secret.Economic interests are limited to positive economic interests, which can enable the right holder to increase his or her property or property interests.
(4) The trade secret is practical, that is, it has direct and realistic use value, and the right holder can directly apply the trade secret to production and business activities.
(5) The owner of the trade secret has taken confidentiality measures. In addition, trade secrets also have the characteristics of transferable use rights, no fixed protection period, and extensive content.
2. Commitment of infringement of trade secrets.
(1) Obtain the business secrets of the obligee through theft, inducement, coercion or other unfair means. Theft generally refers to obtaining trade secrets by stealing the carrier of trade secrets; inducement refers to using money, items or other benefits as bait to make people who know the contents of trade secrets provide trade secrets; coercion refers to the use of money, items or other benefits as bait to make people who know the contents of trade secrets provide trade secrets; coercion refers to the use of money, items or other benefits as bait People use intimidation and threats to force others to provide trade secrets. Other unfair means refer to other unfair means other than theft, inducement, and coercion, such as snatching drawings containing trade secrets.
(2) Disclose, use or allow others to use the right holder’s business secrets obtained through the first method above. This is a continuation of the first behavior above. Disclosure refers to informing the right holder's competitors or other persons of illegally obtained trade secrets, or publishing the contents of trade secrets to the public; use refers to using one's illegally obtained trade secrets for production or business; allowing others to use , refers to allowing others to use the trade secrets obtained by oneself for production or operation, including paid and unpaid situations.
(3) Violating the agreement or violating the obligee's requirement to keep business secrets, disclosing, using or allowing others to use the business secrets in his possession. This refers to the act of disclosing, using or allowing others to use trade secrets by those who are legally aware of the contents of trade secrets, including staff within the company or enterprise, transferred personnel, retired personnel who have worked in the company or enterprise, and persons with rights holders. Relevant personnel who have entered into an agreement to keep trade secrets.
(4) Obtain, use or disclose other people’s business secrets knowingly or should have known about the first to third illegal acts mentioned above. This is an act of indirect infringement of trade secrets, that is, a third party obtains, uses or discloses the trade secrets of others despite knowing or should have known that the person imparting the trade secrets to it has committed the above-mentioned illegal acts.
3. Caused significant losses to the right holder.
(1) The significant losses here refer to significant economic losses, including reduced profits, increased Loss, causing bankruptcy, being at a disadvantage in competition, etc. According to judicial practice, if the amount of direct economic losses caused to the right holder of a trade secret is more than 500,000 yuan, causing the right holder to go bankrupt or causing other serious consequences, prosecution should be pursued. Worth it It should be noted that the causal relationship between the perpetrator's infringement of trade secrets and the heavy losses suffered by the right holder must be ascertained; if the perpetrator commits acts such as stealing trade secrets, but the act itself does not cause major losses to the right holder, If there is any loss, the crime of infringement of trade secrets will not be established.
I hope the above content can be helpful to you. If you have other questions, you can click the button below for consultation, or go to Legal Savior Network consults professional lawyers.