IP Key China Work Achievement: Trade secret

Trade secrets are an essential component for businesses to protect confidential information which provide them a competitive edge. They are broad in scope and unlimited in time but reasonable steps need be taken to keep them from being revealed.

Ensuring adequate protection of trade secret is key to ensure returns on innovation and the unique role they play in the IP defense tools employed by right holders. This is particularly relevant in consideration of the business environment that brings along challenges and uncertainties to the protection of trade secrets of EU companies in China. The protection of trade secrets is one of the priorities established under the EU-China IP Dialogue Mechanism.

Starting from 2017, trade secrets have been an integral part of this phase of IP Key China, notably:

1. Exchange:
   Exchange on Anti-Unfair Competition Law and Trade Secrets with State Administration Market Regulation (January 2019, Europe: Bonn Germany, Brussels Belgium, Luxembourg）
    
2. Symposium:
   WIPO Symposium on Trade Secrets and Innovation with IP Key China’s input (November 2019, Geneva Switzerland)
    
3. Workshop:
   Trade Secret Systems Workshop in the EU and China (December 2020, Online)
    
4. Study:
   Study on Trade Secret Systems in the EU and China (2020)

The trade secret study focuses on the functioning of the Chinese trade secret system following the amendment of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law in 2019. It is composed of three parts: (1) review of the changes made to the trade secret law and practice in China since 2017, (2) analysis of how these changes have been implemented and (3) examination of how the law and its enforcement could be improved.

Your opinions and suggestions on the trade secret will be valued and appreciated by IP Key China and we will deliver a more tailored and practical package of trade secret for the improvement of protection from diversified perspectives of legislation, enforcement and practice