Personalized access credentials (passwords) are one of the typical means of protecting digitally stored trade secrets from unauthorized access. The Regional Court of Nuremberg-Fürth recently ruled that such access credentials (…) Read more
Austrian Supreme Court (öOGH): Loss of rights due to inadequate protective measures
The requirement to protect a trade secret through appropriate confidentiality measures continues to pose challenges for clients and advisors. A recent decision by the Austrian Supreme Court (öOGH) now illustrates (…) Read more
Federal Court of Justice (BGH): Memory performance in Trade Secrets Litigation – The limits of memory
A common defense argument in trade secrets litigation is the claim that the defendant did not copy or take any documents but rather retained certain information in their memory. Given (…) Read more
Nuremberg Higher Regional Court: Urgency is inherent in the trade secret matters
According to the Nuremberg Higher Regional Court, the presumption of urgency under Section 12 (1) of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) is not applicable by analogy under the German Act (…) Read more
Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court: An NDA does not replace a confidentiality order
According to the Mannheim Regional Court – a view also held, albeit in a slightly less stringent form, by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court – the need for legal protection (…) Read more
The new Section 273a of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO): Enhanced protection of Trade Secrets in Civil Proceedings
On April 1, 2025, Section 273a of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) took effect, thereby resolving – to a certain extent – the dilemma faced by parties to (…) Read more
Frankfurt Local Court: Confidentiality of exam questions (?)
The Frankfurt Local Court had to rule on the right to receive a free copy of the results of a German language test. Such requests for disclosure have recently become (…) Read more
Looking back: GeschGehG 2022
To wrap things up, let’s take another look at the activities of the Geheimnisblog over the past year: We published no fewer than 13 posts related to the German Act (…) Read more
The Freedom of Information Act (IFG) and the Protection of Trade Secrets (GeschGehG), or: Whose secret is it, anyway?
As is well known, requests for information under the IFG are not exactly popular with government agencies and other bodies. One of the most common grounds for denial is the (…) Read more
Hello Whistleblower Protection Act, goodbye NDA
The proposed Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) is intended to ensure better protection for so-called “whistleblowers” in the interest of uncovering misconduct. The focus is on protecting employees so they can (…) Read more