1. What are trade secrets and non-competitions
1. Business Secret refers to "technical information and business information that is not known to the public, can bring economic benefits to the right holder, is practical and the right holder has taken confidentiality measures."
2. Non-competition is a non-competition clause agreed by the employer in the labor contract, intellectual property rights ownership agreement or technology confidentiality agreement for the employee who is responsible for keeping the employer's business secrets, that is: the employee is Within a certain period of time after the termination or rescission of the labor contract, the employee shall not work for an employer that produces similar products, operates similar businesses, or has other competitive relationships, nor may he himself produce similar products or operate similar businesses that compete with the original unit.
3. Legal basis: "Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 20 Article 3 The employer and the employee may agree in the labor contract to keep the employer's business secrets and confidentiality matters related to intellectual property rights.
For employees who have a confidentiality obligation, the employer may agree on non-competition clauses with the employee in the labor contract or confidentiality agreement, and agree that the employer shall agree to a non-competition clause upon termination or confidentiality agreement. After the labor contract is terminated, the employee will be given monthly financial compensation during the non-competition period. If an employee violates the non-compete agreement, he shall pay liquidated damages to the employer in accordance with the agreement.
Article 24 [Scope and Duration of Non-competition Restrictions] The persons subject to non-competition restrictions are limited to senior managers, senior technical personnel and other responsible persons of the employer. Persons subject to confidentiality obligations. The scope, territory, and duration of non-competition shall be agreed upon by the employer and the employee. The agreement on non-competition shall not violate the provisions of laws and regulations.
After the labor contract is terminated or terminated, the personnel specified in the preceding paragraph shall go to the unit to produce or operate similar products or engage inThe non-competition period for other competing employers in the same business, or for starting a business to produce or operate similar products or engage in similar business, shall not exceed two years.
2. Violation of non-compete obligations What is the difference between infringement of trade secrets
Although the purpose of non-competition is to protect trade secrets, non-competition disputes often arise in reality It is related to disputes over the infringement of commercial and technical secrets, but non-competition and keeping trade secrets are not exactly the same in nature.
1. Infringement of trade secrets and non-compete restrictions do not necessarily coexist and are inseparable. Although violations of non-competition restrictions often compete with trade secret infringement, But simple breaches of non-competition restrictions also exist.
2. The behavior restricted by keeping trade secrets is the disclosure and use of trade secrets. Violation of trade secrets is mainly a tort; and non-competition restrictions What is restricted is the act of engaging in a certain profession, which is a contractual act.
3. Liability for breach of contract is generally stipulated in a contract, while the obligation to keep business secrets does not need to be bound by the terms of the contract, regardless of whether it is stipulated in the contract. Confidentiality clause, once the employee's behavior constitutes an infringement of the employer's business secrets, the employee can be held responsible for tort liability.
4. An inevitable connection between non-competition restrictions and business secrets is that the agreement on non-competition restrictions must be based on the premise that the employee has the obligation to keep secrets, that is, the employee The employee must come into contact with or master the employer's business secrets during the labor process, otherwise, the non-competition agreement will be invalid.
5. An employee's violation of non-competition restrictions may not necessarily infringe commercial secrets, but it will certainly pose a threat to the leakage of the original employer's commercial secrets.
We can understand that according to regulations, non-competition is an employer's obligation to keep the employer's business secrets, in the labor contract and the ownership of intellectual property rights. Regarding the non-compete clauses stipulated in the agreement or technical confidentiality agreement, 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 Network to consult a professional lawyer.
