其他
The Protection of Trade Secrets in China
Tap “LegalTips” to follow us
Highlights of The Amended Trademark Law of PRC
In China, the primary law governing the protection of trade secrets is the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the PRC (“AUCL”)”. Yet just like many laws in China, judicial interpretations provide a far more detailed and enlightening description of this subject matter and guidance for court hearings. The latter is the Supreme People’s Court Interpretation Regarding Several Issues concerning the Applicable Law in Trials of Unfair Competition Civil Cases (“SPC interpretation”).
在中国，规范商业秘密保护的主要法律是《中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法》（以下简称《反不正当竞争法》）。然而，正如我国许多法律一样，司法解释对这一问题作了更为详尽的描述，并为法院审理案件提供了指导，此即《最高人民法院关于审理不正当竞争民事案件应用法律若干问题的解释》（"最高院解释"）。
根据《反不正当竞争法》，商业秘密是指技术信息、经营信息等商业信息，其不为公众所知，具有商业价值，权利人已为此采取了相应的保密措施。换句话说，此类信息必须包含以下三个要素，才能被视为"商业机密"：
A. Information not publicly known;B. Granting economic benefits and practical applicability to the rights holder; andC. Confidentiality measures have been undertaken by the rights holder.A. 不公开;B. 给权利人带来经济利益，具有实际适用性;和C. 权利人采取了保密措施。According to the Regulation of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Prohibiting Infringement upon Trade Secrets (“SAIC regulation”), these information includes design, procedures, formula of products, production processes , manufacturing techniques and management know-how, name lists of customers, information on resources, production and sales strategies as well as best-and-final offers for bids and the content of bidding documents etc.根据国家工商行政管理总局《关于禁止侵犯商业秘密行为的若干规定》（以下简称《规定》），这些信息包括设计、程序、产品配方、制作工艺、制作方法、管理诀窍、客户名单、货源情报、产销策略、招投标中的标底及标书内容等信息。
However, according to current “SPC interpretation”, the customer list is regarded as a trade secret and generally refers to the customer's name, address, contact information and purchase & transaction habits, intentions, content, etc. which constitute unique customer information that is different from information the general public is privy to. In particular as such information includes a customer roster, as well as particular customers with whom long-term and stable trading relationships have already been established.但是，根据《最高院解释》，商业秘密中的客户名单， 一般是指客户的名称、地址、联系方式以及交易的习惯、意向、内容等构成的区别于相关公知信息的特殊客户信息，包括汇集众多客户的客户名册，以及保持长期稳定交易关系的特定客户。
The SPC interpretation further clarifies what constitutes a trade secret as per below.I. Information not publicly knownThis fact is actually implied by the identification as a “trade secret”. This criterion is met if the information is not commonly known or easily accessible to relevant people in a related field. However, information shall be considered publicly known, if it:1) is a kind of common sense for people in related fields or the practice in the related industry;2) only contains sizes, structures, materials，components or simple combinations of such product details, which can be easily obtained by observing the goods in question;3) has been publicly disclosed in publications and other media, in seminars or exhibitions,4) can be obtained through other public channels or readily available at no cost.《最高院解释》还进一步明确了什么是商业秘密，如下所述： 1、 不公开"商业秘密"一词实际上暗示了这一特性。如果相关领域的相关人员并不普遍知悉或不容易获得该信息，则符合此标准。然而，下列信息会被视为公开信息：1） 该信息为其所属技术或者经济领域的人的一般常识或者行业惯例；2） 该信息仅涉及产品的尺寸、结构、材料、部件的简单组合等内容，进入市场后相关公众通过观察产品即可直接获得；3） 该信息已经在公开出版物、其他媒体上或者通过公开的报告会、展览等方式公开；4） 该信息从其他公开渠道可以获得或无需付出一定的代价而容易获得。
II. Economic benefits and practical applicabilityThe information is supposed to grant economic benefits and has practical applicability, if it has actual or potential commercial value, and may enable competitive advantages for the right holder.2、经济效益和实用性
信息如果具有实际或潜在的商业价值，可以给权利人带来竞争优势，就具有经济效益，具有实际适用性。
III. Confidentiality measuresIf a party takes measures to protect information that is reasonable in view of the commercial value of the information, the confidentiality measures requirement is satisfied. A court should determine whether confidentiality measures have been taken based upon the following factors:a) Characteristic of the media that contain the relevant information;b) The right holder’s intention to protect the information;c) Whether the protection measures are clearly recognizable;d) Whether it would be easy for others to obtain the information from a public source 三. 保密措施当事人根据信息的商业价值采取措施保护合理信息，则符合保密措施的要求。法院应根据下列因素确定是否采取了保密措施：a) 所涉信息载体的特性、b) 权利人保密的意愿、c) 保密措施的可识别程度、d) 他人通过正当方式获得的难易程度
Examples of strategies that qualify as reasonable measures to maintain the confidentiality of information include:1) Restriction of access to the information and only allowing access by people with the “need-to-know”;
2) Preventive measures with regards to the physical carrier of the information such as locks;3) Marking of the information carrier as “confidential”;4) Using a password or code to access the confidential information;5) Signing of non-disclosure agreements;6) Limiting visitor access to premises or facilities where confidential information is held or the requirement of visitors to maintain confidentiality;7) Other reasonable measures to ensure the confidentiality of information.符合保护信息机密性的合理措施的例子包括：
1） 限定涉密信息的知悉范围，只对必须知悉的相关人员告知其内容；2） 对于涉密信息载体采取加锁等防范措施；3） 在涉密信息的载体上标有保密标志；4） 对于涉密信息采用密码或者代码等；5） 签订保密协议；6） 对于涉密的机器、厂房、车间等场所限制来访者或者提出保密要求；7） 确保信息秘密的其他合理措施。
Tap "Read More" to know more