Newsletter
New Amendment to the Trade Secrets Act
The Legislative Yuan passed a third reading of the amendments to the provisions of the Trade Secrets Act on December 31, 2019, expressly stipulating that any unrecognized foreign juristic person may file a complaint for public prosecution, private prosecution, or civil action pursuant to the provisions of the Trade Secrets Act, which solves the differences in the past judicial practice. In addition, this amendment also adds the "Protective Order in Criminal Investigation" system, with the following highlights:
Protective Order in Criminal Investigation |
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Who has the right to issue |
Prosecutor
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Who are the ones subject to a protective order in criminal investigation |
Suspects, defendants, victims, complainants, agent of complainants, defense attorneys, expert witnesses, witnesses or other relevant persons who have access to the contents of investigation. |
Contents of a protective order in criminal investigation |
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Investigation contents that shall be kept confidential |
Trade secret owners shall be given the opportunity to submit comments or provide a response |
Effect of a protective order in criminal investigation |
Violators assume criminal liability
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Whether a protective order in criminal investigation can be changed or revoked |
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What can a trade secrets owner do? |
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Will the protective order in criminal investigation be affected after the case is prosecuted by the prosecutor? |
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In the previous criminal investigation procedures of trade secrets cases, the trade secrets owner has to provide evidence proving that he/she does possess the trade secrets, and explain confidential information such as the content of the trade secrets, the process of research and development, and details of cooperation with other partners. Owning to inadequate legal protection, the evidence seized by the investigation and prosecution authorities and presented by the trade secrets owner often faced the risk of being leaked during the investigation stage, which may cause further injury to the trade secrets owner. The amendment to the Trade Secrets Act has established a "Protective Order in Criminal Investigation" system, allowing prosecutors to issue protective orders in criminal investigation on their own initiative during the investigation stage, and restricting confidential information involved in the investigation process from being disclosed to others arbitrarily. With the rights and interests of the trade secrets owners being protected and the protection of trade secrets strengthened, it is indeed an important development of the legal system of trade secrets.