Business secrets
Law 1/2019, of February 20, Business Secrets Law considered a business secret any information or knowledge, including technological, scientific, industrial, commercial, organizational or financial, that meets the following conditions:
to) be secret, in the sense that it is not generally known or easily accessible to people who normally use that type of information or knowledge.
b) Have a business value.
c) That it has been subject to reasonable measures by its owner to keep it secret.
However, the business secret may belong to several people and this will be governed by what is agreed between the parties. Each of the co-owners may exploit the business secret after notifying the other co-owners, carry out the necessary acts for the protection of the business secret and exercise civil and criminal actions in defense of the business secret, always notifying the co-owners.
What can business secrets cover?
Trade secrets can range from techniques, client lists, drawings, projects or maps. Organizations need to implement security measures in order to protect business secrets by reinforcing the security of information in the company to avoid information theft, such as signing confidentiality contracts in contracts relevant to the organization or monitoring and restricting physical and logical access to secrets.
illicit action
The obtaining of business secrets will be considered illegal, the unauthorized access or appropriation of sensitive company documents or information, the disclosure of the secret by someone who has breached a confidentiality agreement or who at the time of doing so knows that the secret was obtained illicitly, as well as the production, offer or marketing of infringing merchandise.
The Law establishes in its article 3 that are considered “Infringing goods are those products and services whose design, characteristics, operation, production process, or marketing benefit significantly from business secrets obtained, used or disclosed illegally.
Serious consequences
An illicit obtaining of business secrets in many cases will mean a serious damage for the organization. Therefore, it is important to contemplate control measures in Compliance programs to protect business secrets. Increase your knowledge and specialize in this sector with our Master in Compliance & Data Protection Management.
