01.17.2013
The Legislative Body Passes Amendments to Trade Secret Law
SHARE
After nine months of discussion, the proposed amendments to the Trade Secret Law (the “Law”) were passed by Taiwan Legislative Yuan on January 11, 2013. The purpose of this new amendment is to cope with the increasing cases of industrial espionage, especially the international industrial espionage and to protect the technological competitiveness of our country.
Highlights of the new provisions include:
1. As a new measure, criminal penalties for up to five years of imprisonment and/or fines from N.T.$ 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 will be imposed for person who: (1) acquires a trade secret by improper means; (2) uses, reproduces or discloses the trade secret without suitable authorization; (3) refuses to delete or destroy or continues to conceal the trade secret after the owner of the trade secret has instructed to delete or destroy the trade secret, (4) acquires, uses or discloses the trade secret from a malicious third party who obtained the trade secret by improper means as elaborated above.
2. Increased penalties: If the wrongdoer intentionally uses the trade secrets in foreign countries (including China, Hong Kong and Macau), the penalties will be increased to imprisonment from 1 year to 10 years and/or fines from N.T.$ 3,000,000 to 50,000,000.
3. The prosecutor or the complainant may withdraw the charges against one of the accomplices: Violation of trade secret is often committed in a surreptitious manner, and the victim or the prosecutor usually faces difficulties in collecting the evidence of the crime. To encourage the wrongdoer to reveal the crime and facilitate investigation, the prosecutor or the complainant may choose to relieve the criminal responsibility of the whistleblower.
4. Vicarious liability: Employers shall bear vicarious liability for any damages if its employee has wrongfully committed the aforementioned crime unless the employer can prove that it has exercised reasonable care to prevent the occurrence of crime.
The amended new Law is expected to become effective after the national President proclaims the aforementioned amendments hopefully in this spring.
Highlights of the new provisions include:
1. As a new measure, criminal penalties for up to five years of imprisonment and/or fines from N.T.$ 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 will be imposed for person who: (1) acquires a trade secret by improper means; (2) uses, reproduces or discloses the trade secret without suitable authorization; (3) refuses to delete or destroy or continues to conceal the trade secret after the owner of the trade secret has instructed to delete or destroy the trade secret, (4) acquires, uses or discloses the trade secret from a malicious third party who obtained the trade secret by improper means as elaborated above.
2. Increased penalties: If the wrongdoer intentionally uses the trade secrets in foreign countries (including China, Hong Kong and Macau), the penalties will be increased to imprisonment from 1 year to 10 years and/or fines from N.T.$ 3,000,000 to 50,000,000.
3. The prosecutor or the complainant may withdraw the charges against one of the accomplices: Violation of trade secret is often committed in a surreptitious manner, and the victim or the prosecutor usually faces difficulties in collecting the evidence of the crime. To encourage the wrongdoer to reveal the crime and facilitate investigation, the prosecutor or the complainant may choose to relieve the criminal responsibility of the whistleblower.
4. Vicarious liability: Employers shall bear vicarious liability for any damages if its employee has wrongfully committed the aforementioned crime unless the employer can prove that it has exercised reasonable care to prevent the occurrence of crime.
The amended new Law is expected to become effective after the national President proclaims the aforementioned amendments hopefully in this spring.
