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Trade Secrets

  • What are trade secrets?
    According to Article 2 of the Trade Secret Act, "trade secret" means any method, technique, process, formula, program, design, or other information that can be used in the course of production, sales, or operations that can also meet the following three requirements: (1) it is not known to persons generally involved in the information of this type; (2) it has actual or potential economic value due to its secretive nature; and (3) its owner has taken reasonable measures to maintain its secrecy
  • What remedies are available if my trade secrets are infringed?
    Trade secrets do not need to be registered. A person whose trade secrets have been infringed upon may file a complaint with or seek assistance from the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. A party may also appeal directly to a judicial agency for a remedy.
  • What legal liability is incurred if infringing another person's trade secret?
    The Trade Secret Act provides liability only for civil damages for infringing trade secrets, but such infringement may also constitute the crimes of disclosing professional (occupational) secrets, larceny, misappropriation, or breach of trust under the Criminal Code, or may violate relevant provisions of the Fair Trade Act.
  • How can disputes between employers and employees over the ownership of trade secrets be avoided?
    It is advisable for the two parties to expressly stipulate in the employment contract the nature of the employee's work and the scope of his or her duties during the employment period, to strictly require employees to keep a written record of their work activities in a daily work log, and to have a written agreement expressively stating which party owns the trade secrets.
  • Are trade secrets of foreign nationals protected in Taiwan?
    According to Article 15 of the Trade Secret Act, protection of trade secrets of foreign nationals is based on the principle of reciprocity. In principle, if a foreign national's home country does not deny protection to trade secrets of Taiwan nationals, and the foreign national's trade secrets meet the requirements of Taiwan's Trade Secret Act, the foreign national will enjoy protection of such trade secrets under Taiwan's Trade Secret Act.
  • Are trade secrets patentable?

    1.Legal requirements for patent protection differ from trade secret protection. "Trade secret" means any method, technique, process, formula, program, design, or other information that can be used in the course of production, sales, or operations that can also meet the following three requirements:　(1) it is not known to persons generally involved in the information of this type; (2) it has actual or potential economic value due to its secretive nature; and (3) its owner has taken reasonable measures to maintain its secrecy. In other words, to qualify for legal protection, a "trade secret" must be secret and have economic value and its owner must have taken measures to protect it. On the other hand, the purpose of the patent system is to protect inventions while encouraging patent applicants to make their technology public. To obtain patent protection, it is necessary to file an application with the competent authority. The application will be examined and a patent will be issued only if the legal requirements for patents are met.

    2. Protecting trade secrets means preventing public disclosure of the technologies or methods involved, so no registration procedure is required and there is no limit on the protection period. This differs from patent protection, which requires an application for registration and the public disclosure of the content of the patent. If an application is filed for patent protection of a trade secret, the trade secret will no longer qualify as a "trade secret," because its content will be made public in the patent application process, and so will no longer be "secret."