One of the key changes introduced by the GeschGehG is the enhancement of trade secret protection during court proceedings. Based on Sections 16 and 19 GeschGehG, the court may issue procedural orders in a trade secret case to ensure the confidentiality of information and to restrict access to documents.
Unfortunately, these provisions are not a masterpiece of legislative craftsmanship. Numerous issues of great practical relevance remain unclear and must be resolved by the courts. Furthermore, the provisions are susceptible to abuse and exhibit significant shortcomings in terms of legal protection. An initial decision by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has clarified only some of these issues (the Geheimnisblog has already discussed this here).
We have analyzed the practical problems and risks of the regulations in an article published in the October issue of the WRP (WRP 2022, 1208). Our readers can access the article here.