Protection of trade secrets
strengthened
Growing importance of IP rights drives
improvement in laws, court hearings
北京知识产权法院
多措并举提升商业秘密案件审判质效
促进营造公开透明的法治环境
China's judicial system has made greater efforts in recent years to protect trade secrets, improve the quality of hearings and build a sound business environment for domestic and foreign enterprises, a senior Beijing court official said.
北京知识产权法院副院长宋鱼水近日在接受专访时表示，中国司法系统多措并举提高商业秘密案件审判质效，促进营造公开透明的法治环境和平等竞争的市场环境。
With global trade's rapid growth, trade secrets have become a more important intangible asset for companies and played a bigger role in market competition, said Song Yushui, vice-president of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. "It's absolutely necessary to strengthen protection in this regard," she said in an interview with China Daily.
她指出，在贸易全球化高速发展的今天,商业秘密作为企业无形资产的一个重要组成部分,在市场竞争中发挥着越来越重要的作用。“基于此，对于商业秘密的保护具有必要性和重要性。”宋鱼水说。
While more countries have become keen on investing in China in recent years because of its dynamic market and endeavors to promote intellectual property-related matters, some Western nations have accused the country of insufficient protection of IP rights, including trade secrets.
近年来，在商业秘密日益成为市场竞争战略资源的背景下，世界多国权利人密切关注中国知识产权保护状况，但与此同时，商业秘密也成为一些国家指责中国知识产权保护不足的托词。
However, China has made protection of trade secrets a priority in many areas.In November 2020, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, while participating in a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, stressed the importance of IP protection. Laws on IP rights protection should be improved, and cases of infringement must be punished in accordance with the law, he said.
实际上，中国向来高度重视强化商业秘密保护。2020年11月30日，习近平总书记主持中央政治局第二十五次集体学习时强调“要提高知识产权保护工作法治化水平”，“要加强商业秘密等领域立法”。
The need to protect trade secrets has been added to China's Civil Code, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and the Criminal Law as well as a number of judicial interpretations and local regulations. " This demonstrates that China's moves to establish the legal protection of trade secrets have been constantly strengthened," Song said.
此外，中国的民法典、反不正当竞争法、刑法，以及相关司法解释、部门规章和地方性法规也对商业秘密保护作出了细化规定。宋鱼水告诉记者，依托这些不断完善的法律法规，中国对商业秘密的司法保护正在进一步加强。
Data from the Beijing IP Court, which was established in November 2014, showed it had heard 182 cases regarding trade secrets by the end of last year, of which 136 have been concluded. Foreign litigants were from countries including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, India and Germany."We've always given equal protection to litigants, no matter where they're from," Song said.
据她介绍，自北京知识产权法院建院至2022年年底，共受理侵犯商业秘密纠纷案件182件，审结136件，其中涉外案件主要涉及美国、日本、英国、印度、德国等十几个国家。“我们始终坚持平等保护中外当事人的合法权益。”宋鱼水说。
A large number of disputes have emerged in the technology, internet, energy and biomedical sectors. A total of 93 percent of the cases involved workers leaving a company for a rival, she said.
当事人主张的商业秘密涉及新兴高科技领域的案件较多，其中技术秘密主要涉及互联网、能源化工和生物医药领域。她指出：“在这些案件中，因员工跳槽引发的案件占比较高，达到93%。”
"Quite a few plaintiffs in the lawsuits failed to win support from the court, as they had difficulty in proving that the contents leaked by their former or current employees were valuable and confidential," she explained.
但她指出，在以判决方式审结的案件中，有些权利人的诉讼主张未能得到支持。败诉的主要原因是权利人举证不充分，如未能举证证明所主张被泄露的商业秘密具有秘密性、保密性及价值性。
To solve this problem, the court issued a guideline in October 2021, specifying what information can be identified as trade secrets and listing a few examples of acts that can be deemed as infringements.
为破解商业秘密案件当事人举证难题，北京知识产权法院于2021年10月公开发布了中英文版《侵犯商业秘密民事案件诉讼举证参考》（以下简称《举证参考》）。《举证参考》细致说明了商业秘密权利的基本内容、商业秘密法定条件，并列举了常见的侵权行为表现形式。
Wang Zhengzhi, partner at Globe-Law Law Firm, said that the guideline "gives a clearer picture of the scope of trade secrets and clarifies infringement behavior, which had been vague in legal practice."
高文律师事务所合伙人王正志认为，从中国司法实践来看，商业秘密的具体内容界定尚不够清晰，而这份《举证参考》的发布明确了商业秘密的定义、法定条件、侵权行为的表现形式。
He also gave a thumbs-up to the English-language version of the guideline, saying it is a helpful guide for overseas litigants unable to read Chinese. "The guideline helps IP lawyers understand more about trade secrets so they can offer better legal services, and it also specifically tells plaintiffs what evidence needs to be prepared if they believe their trade secrets have been infringed upon," Wang said.
王正志同时称赞道，这份中英文版《举证参考》尤其对于一些只能阅读英文的境外当事人，具有极强的实践指导作用。《举证参考》帮助知识产权律师加深了对商业秘密的理解，以便更好提供法律服务，还详细列举了原被告可提供的证据材料，可以有效促进知识产权律师引导当事人完成举证责任。”王正志补充说道。
In 2021, the Chinese branch of a German company initiated a lawsuit against one of its employees after learning that the employee, who was preparing to leave the company, had copied a large number of confidential documents and sent them to her private e-mail account.
2021年，因前员工在任职期间及被辞退过程中通过工作邮箱、公司打印机向其私人邮箱传输、打印大量公司涉密文件资料，一家总部在德国的全球知名企业中国子公司将该前员工起诉至法院。
"The company contacted the former employee several times, trying to persuade her to delete the documents, but failed," said Yang Hua, the company's lawyer and managing partner at Grandall Law Firm (Beijing). "Given that leaking the documents could put the company at great risk, the company turned to a court."
作为该公司的代理律师，国浩律师（北京）事务所管理合伙人杨华告诉记者，公司起初多次联系被告请求删除、销毁相关文件，但被告置若罔闻，使公司面临巨大风险，经慎重权衡无奈选择诉诸法律，提出依法判令被告立即停止侵权等诉讼请求。
Under the guideline, Yang and her team prepared more than 500 pages of evidence for litigation that detailed the confidentiality of the documents, including how the company made clear the duty of its employees to keep business secrets and measures it has taken to protect them.The company ultimately won the lawsuit.
“面对被告的抗辩，我们在《举证参考》的指引下，向法庭详细展示了500多页证据。这些内容证明涉案文件属于公司的商业秘密，并且体现了公司通过各种方式和措施，对被告从不同维度和层面提出了明确的保密义务要求。” 杨华说。该公司最终赢得了诉讼。
Besides the guideline, the court has also established a team that specializes in handling disputes about trade secrets to improve the quality and professionalism of case hearings. The team has undertaken exchanges with other countries to keep them up to date on its work.
在推进落实《举证参考》的同时，北京知识产权法院还设立专门审判团队，对包括侵犯商业秘密案件在内的竞争类案件实现专业化审理。审判团队及时跟进域外商业秘密等知识产权保护最新动向，切实提升商业秘密案件的审判质效。
Wang, from Globe-Law Law Firm urged the IP court to explain to legislators the difficulties in general legal practice to help formulate a law relating to trade secrets in a timely manner. He also urged more communication with government departments to help enhance officials' awareness of protecting trade secrets.
高文律师事务所的王正志律师建议法院对于此类案件审判过程中的关键点和难点，应与立法部门及时反馈，争取新的立法；同时也要与知识产权保护行政执法部门联系和沟通，增强对企业的巡查和监督。