TRADE SECRETS: DEFINITION AND BASICS OF PROTECTION

Abstract

Trade secrets have an increasing importance today and courts are more and more facing with claims for their protection. In those proceedings it is necessary to determinate whether the information for which protection is required is appropriate to be qualifed as trade secret and whether the trade secret owner made reasonable efforts to ensure their secrecy. The frst section of this article analyses those questions and pays special attention to the criteria for estimate of taken protection measures. The next section presents the system of legal protection of trade secret in EU law, which is regulated by the relevant Directive and which is binding on all Member States and on candidate countries to join the EU. In the conclusion recommendations are given on how to determine the boundary between trade secrets and knowledge and skills of employees.