1. What are the constitutive requirements of trade secrets?
1, unknown to the public (secret)
Secretness is the core feature of trade secrets, and it is also the difficulty and controversial focus of trade secrets identification. "Not known to the public" as stipulated by law refers to the secrecy of trade secrets, that is, the trade secrets claimed by the obligee have not entered the public domain and do not belong to "known information" or "known technology". Secrecy is the most striking feature that distinguishes trade secrets from patented technology and well-known technology, and it is also the premise to maintain their economic value and legal protection. Information that is known to the public and can be easily obtained cannot be used to enjoy advantages, and the law does not need protection; A secret that has been made public will make its owner lose an advantage in the competition, and it will no longer need legal protection.
2. It can bring economic benefits (value) to the obligee.
Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of Several Provisions on Prohibition of Infringement of Trade Secrets stipulates: "The economic benefits and practicality mentioned in these Provisions mean that the information has definite applicability and can bring real or potential economic benefits or competitive advantages to the obligee." This explanation reveals the essential characteristics of trade secrets. It can bring economic benefits to the obligee, which refers to the value of trade secrets and the purpose of legal protection of trade secrets.
Step 3 be practical
Practicality refers to the objective usefulness of trade secrets, that is, the use of trade secrets can create economic value for everyone, which has certain practicality and is an inevitable requirement for realizing the value of trade secrets. Trade secrets must be able to be manufactured or used in order to bring economic benefits to their holders. It is precisely because of the practicality of trade secrets that anyone who has mastered them will be able to apply them in practice.
Security measures (confidentiality) have been taken.
The confidentiality of trade secrets means that trade secrets have been obtained by obligees, and it is difficult for ordinary people to obtain them directly from public channels. This requirement emphasizes the confidential behavior of the obligee, not the result of confidentiality. The reason for this provision is that those who fight for rights are encouraged by law, and those who sleep on rights should not be protected. The objective existence of confidentiality makes it difficult for competitors to obtain this information directly through public channels under normal circumstances.
China's "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" stipulates that business secrets refer to technical information and business information that are not known to the public, can bring economic benefits to the obligee, and are practical and kept secret by the obligee.
Second, whether the right to trade secrets belongs to intellectual property protection.
Intellectual property in a broad sense actually includes trade secrets. If you want to say the difference between him and traditional intellectual property rights, then
1. Trade secrets are not exclusive in a strict sense.
2. It is not limited by region and time, and its effectiveness depends entirely on the confidentiality of trade secrets. Traditional intellectual property rights have the characteristics of regionality and timeliness.
According to the regulations, if a party accuses another person of infringing his trade secrets, he shall bear the burden of proof for the fact that his trade secrets meet the statutory requirements, the other party's information is the same as or substantially the same as his trade secrets, and the other party has taken improper measures. Among them, the evidence to prove that the trade secret meets the statutory conditions includes the carrier, specific content, commercial value and specific confidentiality measures taken for the trade secret.
I hope the above content can help you. Please consult a professional lawyer if you have any other questions.
Legal basis: Article 1 of Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Trade Secrets.
Structure, raw materials, ingredients, formulas, materials, samples, patterns, new plant variety propagation materials, processes, methods or their steps, algorithms, data, computer programs and related documents and other technology-related information may be recognized by the people's court as constituting the technical information referred to in the fourth paragraph of Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Information related to business activities, such as creativity, management, sales, finance, plans, samples, bidding materials, customer information, data, etc. , can be recognized by the people's court as the commercial information referred to in the fourth paragraph of Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
The customer information mentioned in the preceding paragraph includes the customer's name, address, contact information, trading habits, intentions, contents and other information.