Trade Secrets

It is not always necessary and convenient to disclose what makes our business unique, although it will always be necessary to protect it

What are Trade Secrets?

In general terms, trade secrets can be defined as valuable information for a company which is treated as confidential, and which provides a competitive advantage. Traditionally, trade secrets were protected by various provisions contained in different bodies of law and through specific contractual clauses. However, since the enactment of the EU Directive 2016/943 of June 2016, on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure, and its subsequent transposition into national laws, EU countries in general and Spain in particular have a specific and modern regulation on this matter.

The aforementioned Directive establishes the concept of Trade Secret. This is defined as information meeting the following three requirements: it must be secret in the sense that it is not generally known within the circles that normally deal with that type of information, it must also have commercial value; and that it has been subject to reasonable measures by the person lawfully in control of the information to keep it secret.

Industrial Secrets

Trade secrets have been very popular in the field of technical knowledge, as the protection they offer often represents an alternative or complement to patent protection, and sometimes this has interesting advantages over patent protection: it is not necessary to register them before IP Offices and its duration can be infinite.

Drawings and designs
Prototypes
Manufacturing processes
Unpatentable or unpatented inventions
Know-how
Formulas or recipes
Genetic materials and fragrances

Commercial Secrets

Trade secrets are also used in relation to commercially valuable information, which is not susceptible to Intellectual Property protection but that nevertheless requires investment and/or research.

Trade secrets represent an alternative or complementary means of protection for certain intangible assets of the company with respect to trademarks, patents, industrial designs or copyrights, although they are clearly related to them.

Secretos Industriales

Los secretos empresariales han tenido un gran auge en el campo de los conocimientos de carácter técnico, ya que la protección que ofrecen a menudo representa una alternativa o complemento a la protección que se obtiene mediante patente y que presenta en ocasiones interesantes ventajas respecto a ella: no es necesario proceder a su registro ante un organismo público y su duración puede ser infinita.

Dibujos y diseños
Prototipos
Procesos de fabricación
Invenciones no patentables o no patentadas
Conocimientos técnicos
Fórmulas o recetas
Materiales genéticos y fragancias

Secretos Comerciales

Los secretos empresariales también pueden tener por objeto aquella información comercialmente valiosa que a la empresa no interesa divulgar o que, en todo caso, no es susceptible de ser protegida a través de la propiedad industrial o intelectual, pero para la que, sin embargo, se requiere inversión y/o investigación.

Los secretos empresariales representan un medio alternativo o complementario de protección para ciertos activos intangibles de la empresa respecto a las marcas, patentes, diseños industriales o derechos de autor, aunque tienen una evidente relación con ellos.

We can help you

Due to their nature, trade secrets infringements are mostly committed by the people with direct access to the secret. For this reason, it is essential that companies take specific measures to prevent the disclosure of information they consider sensitive and that they have the necessary tools to take legal action when such infringements occur.

We are aware of how valuable this type of information can be today, thus an adequate protection against misappropriation of trade secrets improves the conditions for companies and researchers to discover, develop, share and use information and knowledge.

At YUNIKA LAW we are very familiar with the new legal requirements concerning trade secrets. We help identify the information that needs to be protected and find weaknesses that may require immediate action, depending on the case. These measures include, for instance, the modification of supply contracts or the (re)drafting of confidentiality clauses. We recognize potential threats and support in the development of an appropriate and comprehensive protection strategy.

Te ayudamos

Teniendo en cuenta su naturaleza, la mayoría de las infracciones de secretos empresariales se producen como resultado de los actos de personas con acceso directo a información sensible. Por este motivo, es fundamental que las empresas adopten medidas específicas para evitar la divulgación de la información que consideran sensible y que dispongan de las herramientas necesarias para recurrir a los tribunales cuando se produzcan estas infracciones.

Somos conscientes de lo valiosa que puede resultar este tipo de información hoy en día, por ello, una protección adecuada contra la apropiación indebida de secretos empresariales mejora las condiciones para que las empresas y los investigadores descubran, desarrollen, compartan y utilicen la información y los conocimientos.

En YUNIKA LAW estamos muy familiarizados con los nuevos requisitos legales relativos a los secretos empresariales. Ayudamos a identificar la información que debe protegerse y a encontrar los puntos débiles que pueden requerir medidas inmediatas, según el caso. Estas medidas incluyen la modificación de los contratos de suministro o la (re)redacción de las cláusulas de confidencialidad, por ejemplo. Determinamos las posibles amenazas y apoyamos en el desarrollo de una estrategia de protección adecuada y global.

Our Trade Secrets Experts

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We are fully prepared to answer your questions and attend to your legal needs. We can help you.