Trade Secrets Directive

On 14 April 2016, the European Parliament approved the new European Union Trade Secrets Directive which will create a minimum legal benchmark to protect secret and valuable business information, known as trade secrets.

The aim of the directive is to protect European companies from having their trade secrets disclosed to their rivals. Before now, it was not always clear what information would be classified as a trade secret and how it could be protected. This was particularly the case where different EU countries could take conflicting approaches in relation to the treatment of trade secrets.

The Directive introduces a new standard definition of a "trade secret" and outlines what constitutes lawful and unlawful use of it. It also sets out the remedies available to trade secrets holders in the event of a misuse or misappropriation of their trade secrets and the measures that a Court can use to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets during legal proceedings.