Trade secrets are technical and commercial information unknown to the public that can bring economic benefits to the right holder and are protected by taking practical measures. Information such as customers, orders, and export prices are the core trade secrets of foreign trade enterprises. They have great business value, are the most valuable intangible assets, and are the source of corporate profits and core competitiveness.
The scope of trade secrets is very wide, mainly including technical secrets, transaction secrets, operating secrets, and management secrets. In order for a trade secret to be protected by law, it should generally have the characteristics of confidentiality, value, practicality, and confidentiality. In the Internet age, most trade secrets are stored in computers or network servers in electronic form. Transaction data, customer information, and e-mails generated when conducting electronic transactions using the Internet are trade secrets. The electronicization and networking of trade secrets have invisibly increased the difficulty of protecting trade secrets. Therefore, trade secrets should also be given special protection. The United States has introduced the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 at the federal level. Coupled with the reality of the increasingly intensified trade friction between China and the United States, it can be predicted that the number of 337 investigations of trade secrets will increase significantly in the future.
In the era of big data, the protection of trade secrets faces a more complex situation. Trade secrets in the form of data can easily leak out inadvertently, becoming more exposed, and the risk of trade secret data leakage increases.