Protecting Trade Secrets (Directive)

The proposed protection of trade secrets preserves the incentive for innovation without excessively restricting the spread of new knowledge: By limiting protection to acts carried out intentionally or with gross negligence, the infringer need not check whether every piece of information is a trade secret. Permitting "reverse engineering" also contributes to the spread of new knowledge. Excluding the infringer from documents and hearings during legal proceedings is only compatible with the right to a fair trial where – by contrast with the Commission's proposal – it is guaranteed that at least the legal representative will always be granted access to documents and hearings. The proposed sanctions in the case of an unfounded claim violate additionally the right to an effective remedy.