We’re taking the occasion of the Geheimnisblog’s first New Year to look back on our favorite topic: We’re drawing an interim conclusion regarding how the courts have handled appropriate protective (…) Read more
Does an unjustified cease-and-desist letter alleging a (supposed) violation of the German Act on the Protection of Trade Secrets (GeschGehG) violate Section 823 of the German Civil Code (BGB)?
As is well known, the legal treatment of unjustified cease-and-desist letters depends on the legal basis on which the party issuing the letter bases its claims: A culpably unjustified cease-and-desist (…) Read more
Lecture on the German Act on the Protection of Trade Secret GeschGehG
Approximately two and a half years after the GeschGehG took effect, the first higher court decisions on the new law have been issued, and a case is pending before the (…) Read more
Jurisdiction in trade secret matters in North Rhine-Westphalia
On January 1, 2022, the Regulation on Judicial Jurisdiction in trade secret disputes will take effect in North Rhine-Westphalia (see the full text here). With this regulation, the state legislature (…) Read more
Is Julian Reichelt’s conduct a trade secret of Axel Springer Publishing?
As various media outlets have reported (here and here), Axel Springer Publishing has sent threatening letters to the representative of one of the women who testified in connection with the (…) Read more
Vienna Supreme Court: Implied duty of confidentiality in the transfer of trade secrets
According to the Vienna Supreme Court (Case No.: 4Ob182/20y), the granting of a right to use a software source code (which is to be classified as a trade secret) may (…) Read more
Sending trade secrets via email only if encrypted!?
Under Section 2 no. 1 b) of the German Act on the Protection of Trade Secret (GeschGehG), information is protected as a trade secret only if the lawful owner subjects (…) Read more
Case law on reasonable confidentiality measures
Legal uncertainty persists for holders of trade secrets regarding the specific requirements for “reasonable confidentiality measures” within the meaning of Section 2 no. 1 b) of the German Act on (…) Read more
Risk of a violation of the trade secrets act following an employee’s change of employer – is the “Clean Team” a solution?
A common trigger for the German Act on the Protection of Trade Secret (GeschGehG) proceedings is an employee’s move to a new employer. Not only the – impermissible – removal (…) Read more
Presenting evidence in a GeschGehG-Trial (German Act on the Protection of Trade Secret)
If, after an employee leaves the company, the employee’s new employer – or even a company newly founded by that former employee – brings a competing product to market, there (…) Read more