Question 1

What is a trade secret?

Accepted Answer

Trade secrets are intellectual property rights over confidential information that can be sold or licensed.

In general, to qualify as a trade secret, information must be:

Commercially valuable because it is secret;
Be known only to a limited group of people, and be subject to reasonable steps taken by the legitimate holder of the information to keep it secret, including the use of confidentiality agreements for business partners and employees.
The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to the honest business practices of third parties is considered to be an unfair practice and a violation of the protection of trade secrets.

Question 2

What type of information is protected by trade secrets?

Accepted Answer

In general, any confidential business information that provides a company with a competitive advantage and is unknown to third parties can be protected as a trade secret.Trade secrets encompass both technical information, such as information about manufacturing processes, pharmaceutical testing data, computer program designs and layouts, and commercial information, such as distribution methods, supplier and customer lists, and advertising strategies.A trade secret can also consist of a combination of elements, each of which is in the public domain on its own, but where the combination, which is kept secret, provides a competitive advantage.Other examples of information that can be protected by trade secrets include financial information, scenarios, formulas, and recipes.

Question 3

What kind of protection does a trade secret offer?

Accepted Answer

The legal protection of trade secrets falls within the general concept of protection against unfair competition, or it is based on specific provisions or case law regarding the protection of confidential information.Federal Law 9.279 of May 14, 1996, Article 195. The following constitutes the crime of unfair competition: [...] XI - disclosing, exploiting, or using, without authorization, confidential knowledge, information, or data usable in industry, commerce, or the provision of services, excluding those that are public knowledge or evident to a technician in the field, to which access was gained through a contractual or employment relationship, even after the termination of the contract; XII - disclosing, exploiting, or using, without authorization, knowledge or information referred to in the preceding item, obtained by illicit means or to which access was gained through fraud; or [...] Penalty - imprisonment for 3 (three) months to 1 (one) year, or a fine. § 1. The employer, partner, or administrator of the company who incurs the offenses established in the aforementioned provisions is included in the cases referred to in items XI and XII. [...]Although the final determination of whether or not trade secret protection has been violated depends on the circumstances of each individual case, in general, unfair practices regarding classified information include breach of contract, breach of trust, and industrial or commercial espionage.The owner of a trade secret, however, cannot prevent others from using the same technical or commercial information if they acquired or developed such information independently through their own research and development, reverse engineering, or marketing analysis, etc.Since trade secrets are not made public, unlike patents, they do not provide "defensive" protection, as prior art does.For example, if a specific production process for Compound X is protected by a trade secret, another person may obtain a patent or utility model for the same invention, if the inventor arrived at that invention independently.

Question 4

Is it possible to sell or license trade secrets?

Accepted Answer

Trade secrets are proprietary rights and can be assigned or licensed to others. The holder of a trade secret has the right to authorize third parties to access and use the trade secret information.However, due to the confidential nature of trade secret information, it is not always easy for third parties to determine whether the information in question meets the conditions for trade secret protection.Therefore, compared to a patent, it is more difficult to transfer and license confidential information and resolve disputes that may arise. Since a potential licensee needs access to the trade secret information to assess its value or usefulness, a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement needs to be signed between the potential licensor and the licensee.Furthermore, in order to maintain the confidentiality of trade secret information, a trade secret licensor must require the licensee to take reasonable measures to keep that information secret.

Question 5

How can I obtain certified proof of the existence of my confidential information?

Accepted Answer

A trade secret can be protected for an unlimited period of time, unless it is discovered or legally acquired by third parties and disclosed to the public. For these reasons, protecting trade secrets may seem particularly attractive to certain companies.In general, the protection of trade secrets gives owners the right to prevent information legally under their control from being disclosed, acquired, or used by third parties without their consent, in a manner contrary to honest business practice.A key criterion for confidential information to be considered a trade secret is the adoption of measures to protect its confidential assets.The WIPO Proof Trade Secret - a trade secret registered with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) - is valid worldwide as proof of prior art for your secret and a measure to preserve the confidentiality of your information. With a special digital encryption system, it timestamps your confidential information without it being stored outside your sphere.Encrypted proof, which cannot be modified, can attest to the existence of the work at a given time, providing a measure of protection for its trade secrets.Preventing third parties (internal or external) from making unauthorized use of any confidential information is the main objective of a trade secret; therefore, in addition to registration with WIPO, specific confidentiality clauses should be included in:employment and service contracts;Codes of ethics;confidentiality policies;contracts with clients and partners;confidentiality terms, ...In addition to due diligence processes regarding the use of company assets by employees or partners.

Question 6

What is WIPO? In how many countries is the registration valid?

Accepted Answer

WIPO stands for World Intellectual Property Organization. It is one of the specialized agencies of the UN (United Nations) and is headquartered in Geneva.The agency is dedicated to the constant updating and proposal of international standards for the protection of intellectual creations worldwide.The Trade Secret Certificate from WIPO provides recognition in 170 countries that are currently signatories to the Paris Convention, which established the protection of industrial property assets for its members.

Question 7

What is the cost to register a trade secret?

Accepted Answer

The Mário de Almeida Group is a WIPO PROOF accredited company and will be your representative responsible for the certification of your Trade Secret with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). To register and obtain a WIPO certificate, the following investment is required: Fees: R$ 490.00 (four hundred and ninety reais) WIPO Fees:Trade Secret Registration Fee: 20 CHF (twenty Swiss Francs, approximately R$ 139.00 at the March/2021 exchange rate);Issuance of Registration Certificate: 20 CHF (twenty Swiss Francs, approximately R$ 139.00 at the March/2021 exchange rate) - optional.Legal advice: to be agreed upon.Adjustments to employment contracts, safety policies, and confidentiality agreements.

TRADE SECRET

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