Innovations in the protection of trade secrets in Germany

On July 18, the draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection on the implementation of the Trade Secrets Directive (EU) 2016/943 was published and has since been making its way through the German legislative process. Individual text amendments are still possible, but drafting is already well advanced.

The deadline for the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/943 already expired in June and it is therefore expected that the final version of the planned law "on the protection of trade secrets" (GeschGehG) will enter into force quickly by the end of 2018. The draft law already provides reliable indications of the key points of the new regulation. The most important novelty: for the first time, the term "trade secret" is defined by law, as are permissible and impermissible forms of appropriation, use and disclosure. For companies, one innovation in particular will require action. The amendment provides for protection of trade secrets in the future only for those secrets for which appropriate security measures can be demonstrated. Stronger protection for whistleblowers is also included in the new law.

RL 2016/943 - The Trade Secrets Directive

The protection of a company's own know-how is of central importance for companies.