1. Enterprises must reasonably use public information to mine commercial information
One of the legal means of obtaining other people’s trade secrets is reverse engineering. For most enterprises, reverse engineering is a very effective means of legally obtaining other people’s trade secrets. Trade secrets are different from patents. From the perspective of protection, patents have the strongest protection and are extremely exclusive. The protection of trade secrets is obviously weaker than that of patents. Independent development and reverse research are not considered infringement. In addition, patented technology is a public technology, and trade secrets are non-public technology. For patented technology, even if the method and process of the technology are known, it cannot be used without the permission of the right holder as long as it is still within the protection period of the patent. Trade secrets are different. As long as they are obtained through legal means, they can be legally used and transferred after obtaining trade secrets unless a confidentiality and restricted use agreement is signed with the right holder. Therefore, it is legal to obtain other companies’ products by legal means (such as legal purchases) and then use the company’s resources to disassemble and research them. If the commercial information obtained in this way meets the conditions of trade secrets, it should also be protected as a trade secret.
2. Keep daily technical information and business information
When an enterprise develops a new product or establishes a new business information system, the entire process of research and development, investigation, and analysis should be recorded. Not only ordinary data, but also the means and methods of obtaining information should be completely preserved. This is not only to protect one’s own business secrets, but also a necessary condition for claiming that business information constitutes a business secret. It is also the most favorable evidence for the defendant to defend in litigation. According to my country’s trial rules, if the defendant wants to prove that he has not infringed the business secrets of the right holder, he must prove that he has a legal source, and this legal source must be earlier than the time of “contact”. It can be said that such rules are relatively strict for the defendant. If the defendant cannot prove his “legality” and “earlier”, the result will be quite unfavorable. In civil litigation, the standard of evidence is the preponderance of evidence. As long as the evidence is biased, it is sufficient. In order for the judge to believe that the defendant has obtained business information by his own legal means during the trial, a complete information development system must be presented to the judge.