The “Handbook on Trade Secret Protection,” to which several authors from the Geheimnisblog contributed, has been published in its second edition by Carl Heymanns Verlag! The editors of this practical handbook are Prof. Dr. Christoph Ann, LL.M., Prof. Dr. Michael Loschelder, and Dr. Marcus Grosch, LL.M. (available here).
The handbook addresses the challenges involved in protecting trade secrets in practice. Trade secret protection is, in particular, a cross-cutting issue because the protection of trade secrets has far-reaching implications for other areas of law, including data protection and labor law. The publication of the second edition was prompted in particular by the enactment of the Trade Secrets Protection Act, new legal developments regarding the GDPR, and the protection of AI-based know-how.
Dr. Martin Brock authored the chapter on trade secrets in labor law and has now thoroughly revised and updated it. Dr. Stefan Maaßen has updated the chapters on trade secret protection in tendering processes and on procedures for the sale of trade secrets and has also rewritten the chapter “Trade Secrets in Enforcement and Insolvency Proceedings.”
The handling of trade secrets in enforcement and insolvency proceedings raises numerous unresolved legal questions. What powers and obligations an insolvency administrator has with regard to the debtor’s trade secrets, and how third-party trade secrets are treated, are just a few of the many fascinating and, in many respects, open questions in this area. The treatment of trade secrets in enforcement proceedings is also largely unclear: Can trade secrets be seized, and if so, how do the seizure and realization of such secrets take place? After all, trade secrets cannot be publicly auctioned off – or can they?
In a comprehensive new chapter, the handbook also examines the practical protection of trade secrets in corporate practice and considers international trade secret protection, for example in the United States. It presents potential solutions to questions that have remained unanswered in literature but are pressing in practice.
Enjoy reading!