The Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law in Hearing Civil Cases of Trade Secret Infringement were promulgated in 2020 and entered into force on 12 Sept. 2020.
There are 29 articles in total, which aim to provide courts nationwide with a unified law application standard in hearing civil cases of trade secret infringement, so as to apply the Anti-unfair Competition Law accurately.
The key points are as follows: 1.According to the Anti-unfair Competition Law, the term “trade secret” refers to the technical information, the business information and the like which are not known to the public, have commercial value and have been protected by the right holder’s confidentiality measures. The Provisions specify this definition, for example:
(1) Technical information refers to structures, raw materials, components, formulas, materials, samples, patterns, propagation materials of new plant varieties, process, methods or their steps, algorithms, data, computer programs and relevant files related to technology;
(2) Business information refers to creativity, management, sales, finance, planning, samples, bidding materials, customer information, data and other information related to business activities;
(3) The above-mentioned customer information includes name, address, contact information, trading habits, intention, content and other information of the customer.
(4) The expression “not known to the public” refers to that the information for which the right holder seeks protection is not generally known and easily obtained by relevant personnel when the alleged infringement occurs.
(5) Confidentiality measures refer to the reasonable confidentiality measures taken by the right holder to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets before the occurrence of the alleged infringement.
(6) Commercial value refers to the real or potential commercial value of the information for which the right holder seeks protection due to its unavailability to the public.
- If the party concerned obtains the information subject to alleged infringement through self-development or reverse engineering, it shall not be deemed as infringing trade secrets.
3.The court may make the following judgments according to the request of the right holder:
(1) the infringer shall stop infringing the trade secret until it is known to the public;
(2) the infringer shall return or destroy the trade secret carrier and delete the trade secret information under his/her control;
(3) the infringer shall compensate the right holder for the loss, which is caused by the disclosure of the trade secret to the public due to the infringement.
4.In the course of litigation, the party concerned or third parties may apply to the court in writing to take confidentiality measures for the evidence involving their trade secrets. For the trade secrets contacted and obtained during the litigation, those who violate the confidentiality obligations, disclose the trade secrets without authorization or use the same for non-litigation purpose shall bear civil liability and even criminal liability if a crime is committed.