Protection of Trade Secrets in China 中国的商业秘密保护

Presentation on theme: "Protection of Trade Secrets in China 中国的商业秘密保护"— Presentation transcript:

1 Protection of Trade Secrets in China 中国的商业秘密保护
David Chen, Associate 陈威志，律师 30 March 2011 IPMT/China

2 Key Points 要点 China‘s protection of trade secrets 中国的商业秘密保护
What are trade secrets? 什么是商业秘密? What constitutes infringement of trade secrets? 什么构成侵犯商业秘密? How do companies lose trade secrets? 公司如何丧失商业秘密? What challenges to businesses face in protecting their trade secrets in China? 企业保护商业秘密在中国面临的挑战是什么? What trade secrets protection means to companies? 商业秘密保护对公司意味着什么?

3 Trade Secret Protection in China 中国的商业秘密保护
Does not have a stand-alone trade secrets law 没有一个独立的商业秘密法 Protection is primarily under Article 10 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law 保护主要规定在反不正当竞争法第十条 Also relevant provisions in: 有关条文还有： the Interim Provisions on the Protection of Trade Secrets of Central Government Enterprises对中央政府企业商业秘密保护的暂行规定 the Several Provisions on Prohibiting Acts of Trade Secrets Infringement 关于禁止侵犯商业秘密行为的若干规定 Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases Involving Unfair Competition 对最高人民法院在审理民事案件中涉及不公平竞争应用法律的司法解释 the Contract Law 合同法 the Labour Contract Law 劳动合同法 the Criminal Law 刑法 Draft trade secrets law circulated in 1996, but remains under discussion and examination 商业秘密法草案于1996年发出，但仍在讨论和审查中

4 What are trade secrets? 什么是商业秘密?
Article 10, Anti-Unfair Competition Law ("AUCL") 《反不正当竞争法》，第10条（“AUCL“） “technical information and business information which is not known to the public, which is capable of bringing economic benefits to the owners of the rights, which has practical applicability and which the owners of the rights have taken measures to keep secret.” “公众不知晓的技术信息和商业信息，它能为权利所有人带来经济利益，它具有实用性，并且权利所有人采取措施使该信息保密。” Let‘s break it down: 让我们分解来看： 1) technical and business information; 技术信息和商业信息； 2) not known to the public; 公众不知晓； 3) that is capable of bringing economic benefits to the rights owners and has practical applicability; and 它能为权利所有人带来经济利益，它具有实用性; 并且 4) which the rights owner has taken measures to keep secret. 权利所有人采取措施使该信息保密 。

5 What is "technical or business information"? 什么是“技术或商业信息”
Technology技术 formulas and designs方案和设计 techniques and know-how技术和技能 undisclosed inventions未公开的发明 manufacturing information制造技术 Strategy and Management战略与管理 business models商业模式 strategic plans战略计划 management techniques管理技术 materials related to corporate restructuring and public offerings有关企业重组和公开发行材料 financial information财务信息 investing and financing decisions投资和融资决策 procurement采购 Sales and Marketing销售和营销 client lists客户名单 client information客户信息 sales tactics销售 bidding information招投标信息 status of corporate resources企业资源状况

6 What is "not known to the public"? 什么是“公众不知晓”？
"not known to the public" means... “公众不知晓” 意思是... not generally known to skilled persons in the art; or在技术领域技术人员一般不知晓的; 或者 not easily obtained不能轻易获取 it does not mean...它不是指... general knowledge or usual practices in the relevant technical or economic field 在有关技术或经济领域的常识或惯例 the simple combination of dimension, structure, materials and components of a product that can be learned directly through observation after the product enters the market 尺寸，结构，材料和产品元件-- 这种产品进入市场后,可以直接通过观察学习的简单组合 disclosed in publications or other media在出版物或其他媒体上公开 disclosed in public seminars or exhibitions在公开研讨会或展览上公开 obtained through other public channels通过其它公开聚到获得 easily obtained without the need to pay any consideration易获得，无需付出任何代价

7 What is "capable of bringing economic benefits" and "has practical applicability"? 什么是“能带来经济利益”和“具有实用性”？ "capable of bringing economic benefits" and "practical applicability" means... “能带来经济利益”和“具有实用性”意思是... has immediate or potential economic value 有即时或潜在的经济 can enhance the competitiveness of the rights owner 可以提高权利所有人的竞争力

8 What is "taken measures to keep secret"? 什么是“采取措施保密 ”？
"taken measures to keep secret" means... "采取措施保密" 意思是... Broadly speaking...广义地讲 ... reasonable measures based on the economic value of the trade secret to prevent its disclosure 合理的措施基于商业秘密的经济价值，以防止其被披露 taken by the rights owner 由权利所有人拥有 Specific measures...具体措施 restricted access, access on a need-to-know basis限制访问，访问建立在需要知道的基础上 physical prevention measures, i.e. locking of files, encryption自然性预防措施，即文件锁定，加密 labeling "confidential"标签注明“机密” passwords密码 confidentiality agreements保密协议 restricted site access (factory, machinery room, manufacturing site, etc.)限制站点访问（工厂，机房，生产地点等） visitor restricted access and confidentiality obligations游客受限制访问和保密义务 other reasonable measures to secure information其它的合理措施以确保信息安全 It's important to have a written company policy有一个书面的公司章程很重要

9 Technical Information技术信息 Readily Ascertainable 易于确定
什么是商业秘密？ What are trade secrets? Trade Secrets 商业秘密 No Utility 无实用性 Not Novel 无创新性 Patents 专利 Obvious 明显性 Publicly Known 公众知晓 Personal Skill 个人技能 Technical Information技术信息 Business Information 商业信息 Readily Ascertainable 易于确定

10 Key things to remember about trade secrets... 商业秘密的关键点...
not all valuable techniques and materials can be protected by patent or copyright 并非所有有价值的技术和材料可以用专利或著作权来保护 perpetual – protection lasts as long as you keep it secret 永久性- 保护持续到你公布秘密之时 once the trade secret becomes publicly known, you lose protection (even if due to infringing acts) 一旦该商业秘密被公众知晓，将丧失保护（即使因侵权行为） not all confidential information is a trade secret 并非所有的机密信息都是商业秘密 calling it a trade secret isn't enough; you have to prove that your information is a trade secret 称为商业秘密并不足够，你必须证明你的信息是商业秘密 often your most valuable and strategically important intellectual property is a trade secret 通常最珍贵和具有战略性重要意义的知识产权是商业秘密

11 Infringement of trade secrets 侵犯商业秘密
3rd party misappropriation 第三方挪用 misappropriation 挪用 disclose, use, allowing others to use 披露、使用、允许他人使用 Obtaining trade secrets from the owner by stealing, promising gain, using coercion or other improper means 通过盗窃、利诱、胁迫或其他不正当手段获得商业秘密 Where a third party obtains, uses or discloses another‘s trade secret when it knows, or should have known, of the illegal acts mentioned above 明知或者应知前款所列行为，第三方仍然获取、使用或者披露他人的商业秘密的 Disclosing, using or allowing others to use trade secrets obtained by stealing, promising gain, using coercion or other improper means 披露、使用或者允许他人使用以盗窃、利诱、胁迫或者其他不正当手段获取的商业秘密 Disclosing, using or allowing others to use trade secrets that a party has obtained by breaking an agreement or disregarding the requirements of the owner to maintain the confidentiality of the trade secret 违反约定或者违反权利人有关保守商业秘密的要求，披露、使用或者允许他人使用其所掌握的商业秘密的。 but, reverse engineering is not considered infringement of trade secrets 但是，逆向工程不被视为是侵犯商业秘密

12 administrative action 行政处罚 criminal liability 刑事责任
Remedies 救济 administrative action 行政处罚 order-to-stop, fine RMB10, ,000 停止令，罚款10,000-20,000元 civil litigation 民事诉讼 damages, injunction 损害，强制令 criminal liability 刑事责任 fine, imprisonment (<3 yrs. for significant losses or <7 yrs. for extremely significant losses) 罚款，有期徒刑（造成重大损失的，三年以下；特别严重后果的，三年以上七年以下） but no preliminary injunction 但是没有预先禁令

13 How does a company lose trade secrets? 公司怎样泄露了商业秘密？
Your Company 你的公司 Public 公众 exiting or former employees 退出的或前任员工 going to competitors 加入竞争者的企业 starting up competing businesses 开始商业竞争 current employees 现在的员工 inadvertently in business dealings, presentations, seminars, trade shows 无意间在交易、演说、研讨会、交易展中透露 because they don't know 因为他们不知道 stolen by visitors, hackers, potential partners 被来访者、黑客、潜在 合作者窃取 during negotiations 在谈判期间 hackers, viruses 黑客，病毒

14 Vectors 传播媒介

15 Proving trade secrets infringement in court 商业秘密侵权诉讼
Plaintiff must prove by evidence all three: 原告必须证明以下几个方面： 1) Existence and ownership of trade secrets 商业秘密的存在和所有权 medium (cannot be only in people‘s heads) 媒介（不能只存在于人们的脑海中） content 内容 commercial value 商业价值 protective measures 保护措施 2) Defendant possess information that is the same or essentially the same to what is claimed as a trade secret 被告拥有与该商业秘密相同或本质上一致的信息 3) Defendant obtained the trade secret improperly 被告通过不正当手段获得商业秘密 Burden remains on the Plaintiff to show improper means were used 原告需要承担证明被告使用不正当手段的责任 Once this is shown, there is a presumption of trade secrets infringement 一旦被证明，就存在商业秘密侵权的假定。 Defendant can rebut presumption by showing: 被告可以反驳这一假定： information was obtained or used legitimately 信息的获得或使用是合法的

16 Challenges for protecting your trade secrets in court 在法庭上保护商业秘密的挑战
Proving that your trade secret deserves protection often requires disclosure of the trade secret 证明商业秘密值得保护通常需要公开这一秘密 Burden of proof is high, no burden shifting 举证责任较重，没有举证责任倒置 No clear statutory basis for preliminary injunctions (unlike in patent, trademark, and copyright laws) 预先禁令没有明确的法律依据（不像专利法、商标法和著作权法）

17 Challenges for protecting your trade secrets in court 在法庭上保护商业秘密的挑战
Evidence preservation and property preservation applications 证据保全和财产保全申请 generally ineffective in securing valuable evidence 在保存有价值的证据方面基本无效 no penalties for not complying with order 不遵守法令也没有相应的惩罚 cannot compel production of damaging evidence 不能强制生产被损坏的证据 Documentary evidence 书面证据 notarized evidence is the strongest 公证的证据效力最高 often cannot notarize evidence of improper means 通常不能公证以不正当手段收集的证据 Witness testimony 证人证词 lacks probative strength for Chinese judges 对中国的法官来说缺乏证明力 judges have authority to exclude 法官有权排除 no penalties for lying, Chinese judges do not have effective contempt powers 撒谎无惩罚，中国法官没有有效的蔑视法庭的惩处权力

18 What this means for companies? 这对于公司意味着什么？
selective transfer, deal structuring (for foreign companies) 选择性转移，交易结构 （对于外国公司） trade secrets protection 商业秘密保护 training and attitude management 培训和态度管理 leak prevention 预防泄漏 misappropriating the trade secrets of others 挪用他人的商业秘密

19 Prevention is key to protecting trade secrets in China 在中国预防是保护商业秘密的关键
Identification and cataloging鉴定和编目 Management accountability管理问责制 Contractual Barriers 合同屏障 non-disclosure agreements 保密协议 non-use agreements 不使用协议 non-solicitation agreements 不招募协议 non-compete agreements 竞业禁止协议 Physical Barriers 物理屏障 marking documents “confidential“ 使文档“加密” locking files away after business hours 在工作之外的时间将文件锁好 restricting access to areas where there are trade secrets 限制进入涉及商业秘密的区域 limit access and copying rights to personnel who actually need it 仅限实际需要该商业秘密的人员接触该秘密和行使著作权 log visitors and require a non-disclosure agreement before access to sensitive areas is granted 记录来访者并要求进入敏感区域的人员认可保密协议 Technical Barriers 技术屏障 passwords 密码 commercially-available encryption 市售加密 USB/CD/DVD restrictions 限制USB/CD/DVD logging 记录 Training and Awareness 培训和意识

20 David Chen 陈威志 IPMT, 北京 电话: 010-6582-9488 david.chen@hoganlovells.com
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