1. What are the circumstances of infringement of trade secrets
Legal basis: According to Article 10 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law", the specific forms of infringement of trade secrets mainly include the following:
1. Theft, inducement, Obtain the business secrets of the right holder through coercion or other unfair means.
The so-called theft of trade secrets includes theft by internal personnel of the unit, theft by external personnel, theft by internal and external collusion, etc.; the so-called obtaining of trade secrets by inducement usually refers to the perpetrators Providing property or other preferential conditions to persons who possess trade secrets to induce them to provide trade secrets to the perpetrator; the so-called obtaining trade secrets by coercion means that the perpetrator uses threats and coercion to make others provide the trade secrets under compulsion. Trade secrets; the so-called obtaining trade secrets by other improper means refers to other illegal means other than the above-mentioned acts. For example, extorting and spying on other people's business secrets through business negotiations, cooperative development and research, study tours and other opportunities.
2. Disclose, use or allow others to obtain trade secrets through improper means.
The so-called disclosure refers to disclosing the right holder’s business secrets to a third party or to unspecified other people, so that they lose their confidentiality value; the so-called use Or allowing others to use it refers to the specific situation of illegally using other people's trade secrets. It should be pointed out that if an actor obtains a trade secret by illegal means and then discloses or uses the secret, it will constitute double infringement; if a third party learns the trade secret from the infringer and discloses or uses the secret, the same shall apply. constitute infringement.
3. Violate the agreement or violate the obligee’s obligation to keep business secretsRequest, disclose, use or allow others to use the trade secrets in their possession.
The person who legally possesses the trade secret may be the other party who has a contractual relationship with the obligee, or may be a staff member of the obligee's unit or other insiders. If the above-mentioned perpetrator violates the confidentiality obligations stipulated in the contract or the unit, discloses the business secrets in his possession without authorization, or uses them himself or allows others to use them, this constitutes an infringement of business secrets.
4. The third party still obtains, uses or discloses the trade secrets of others from the infringer even though he knows or should know about the aforementioned illegal acts.
This is an indirect infringement. The perpetrator knows that it is another person's trade secret and knows or should have known that the trade secret is infringed, but still obtains, uses, and discloses the secret. Therefore, the law treats this behavior as an infringement of trade secrets.
2. What information does not belong to trade secrets?
Things that cannot or should not become corporate trade secrets are:
1. Patents.
Trade secrets are required not to be known to the public. The prerequisite for patent authorization is disclosure. Only the technical solution of the patent can be protected. Since the technical solutions of all patents (except defense patents) are public, it is impossible for patents to become trade secrets, or in other words, patents and trade secrets are mortal enemies.
2. Products that can be deciphered by reverse engineering.
After a product is developed, it must be pushed to the market. Only by pushing it to the market can profits be made. After being launched on the market, even if confidentiality is maintained, if the technical solution of the product can be deciphered through reverse engineering, it is not illegal for others to obtain trade secrets in this way.
For products that can be deciphered by reverse engineering, companies are best protected by applying for patents.
3. Common business information or business skills in the industry.
For common business information and business skills in the industry, companies may have spent a lot of energy, financial resources and time to obtain this information and skills.However, this information and skills should be known to most people in the industry and cannot be protected, so there is no need to keep them as trade secrets, such as some uncharacteristic customer lists, etc.
4. Commercial information obtained through illegal means.
From the definition of a trade secret, only the parties themselves know the content, so only the parties themselves know whether the case involves trade secrets. Cases of non-public cross-examination include those involving state secrets. Of course, even if no party applies to the case, the court must decide not to open the cross-examination ex officio. Trade secrets are the property rights of an enterprise. They are related to the competitiveness of the enterprise, are crucial to the development of the enterprise, and some even directly affect the survival of the enterprise. I hope the above content will be helpful to you. If you have other questions, you can click the button below for consultation, or go to the Legal Savior website to consult a professional lawyer.