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IN CONFIDENCE: PUTTING IN PLACE A TRADE SECRET PROTECTION PROGRAM. Najmia Rahimi Senior Program Officer, SMEs Division World Intellectual Property Organization. Outline. What’s a Trade Secret ? Definition and main criteria Why to protect trade secrets ?
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IN CONFIDENCE:PUTTING IN PLACE A TRADE SECRET PROTECTION PROGRAM Najmia Rahimi Senior Program Officer, SMEs Division World Intellectual Property Organization
Outline • What’s a Trade Secret? • Definition and main criteria • Why to protect trade secrets? • Pros and cons of trade secrets’ protection • Trade secret management program • Building it up in a company • Misappropriation of trade secrets • How trade secrets get stolen • How to protect them • Violation of trade secrets • How to establish an violation • What are the remedies • Audit of trade secrets: main steps
Trade Secret is Information • Any: technical, commercial, financial, strategic, logistical, scientific, etc. • Not generally known to the relevant business circles or to the public • Confers economic (commercial) benefit to its owner because of the fact that it is secret • Is subject to reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
Examples • Production processes • (Chemical) formulas: drinks, food, cosmetics, medicine, etc. • Software • Projects, models, etc. • Procedural tests • Marketing, development, research, strategic plans • Negative information ( processes which do not work, etc.) • List of clients and information about them • Prices, costs-related information • New ideas, methods, understanding
How to build up a trade secret management program in a company?
How trade secrets get stolen: What would be your comments on the Norden Case?
Protection of trade secrets • Most countries do not have specific laws on trade secrets. • Protection of trade secrets is established in: • Civil Laws • In Unfair Competition Laws (for instance, in Germany) • In Contract Law (in many countries) • In Criminal Law (for instance, in the EU countries, USA, Russia)
Remedies Against Violations of Trade Secrets • Court order to stop illegal acts (injunction) • Monetary compensation (damages, lost of profits, unjust enrichment, etc.) • Seizure order (to check defendant’s premises, to take evidence, etc.) • Precautionary confiscation/seizure of articles that contain trade secrets or products resulting from their use/misuse • Destruction of infringing articles • In some countries, imposition of punitive damages