A Study of the Constituent Elements of Trade Secret in Japan

• Main Authors: HSU-CHENG SHIH, 施勗程
• Other Authors: Jau-hwa Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/786t97

碩士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 專利研究所 === 107 === Although Taiwan had already legislated the Trade Secret Law in 1996, the determination of trade secrecy has always been a problem since the law was implemented. Recently, although the leakage and infringement of trade secrets have been emerging endlessly, the practical court judgements have not been using the Trade Secret Law to discuss or determine the trade secret itself as much as predicted. In fact, the acknowledgment of having a trade secret of the court has long been considered stricter and stricter. Compared to Taiwan, being one of the establishing countries of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights （TRIPS）, Japan has a long history of trade secret law and its establishment. However, lacking of the researches concerning the theories and practical judgements has made the recent development of the trade secret law in Japan not well known. Thus, through researching the current trade secret law and its development in Japan, the research is able to organize the opinions of recent judgements related to the trade secret law in Japan and provide advice to judicial practice and future work. The research would start with the history and background of the trade secret law in Japan, and, starting from its establishment and legislation, introduce the core value and the subject matter. Further, setting the character of trade secret in Japan as well as the system and currently implemented law. The second chapter would focus on related issues of the tree constituent elements of the trade secret: “Confidentiality”, “Value”, and “Non-Publicity”, and sum up the realistic content of the elements. Moreover, the Guidelines for the Management of Trade Secrets announced by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry would also be introduced, and suggestions about practical procedures of management would be provided along with the important trade secret related opinions of judgements. Lastly, personal suggestions and conclusion is provided, according to the outcome of the comparison of the tree constituent elements of trade secret of Japan and Taiwan: “Secretive Nature”, “Economic Value”, and “Reasonable Measures Maintaining Secrecy”. III Substantial differences of the constituent elements of Taiwan and Japan are found. From the standpoint of Japanese law, the “Confidentiality” from Japan seems to be composed of “Reasonable Measures Maintaining Secrecy” and “Secretive Nature” from Taiwan. Moreover, Japan conducts a strict matter of examining the “Confidentiality” at first, and then presume the trade secret to have “Value” and “Non-publicity” if positive. Said examination is far from the same of that of Taiwan’s, considering the three elements simultaneously and integrated. Finally yet importantly, the research believes that Taiwan could conduct the concept of “Recognizability” from Japan, so that the recognition of trade secret would not be either too harsh, or too easy, providing a more protective environment for the trade secrets in Taiwan.