NetherlandsWet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen, Protection of Trade Secrets
Wet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen, arts. 1-9 (BWBR0041459)
In force since .
An unfair competition rule binding public and private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not obtain a trade secret without the holder's consent through unauthorized access to, or unauthorized appropriation or copying of, documents, objects, substances, materials or electronic files that the holder lawfully controls and that contain the secret or from which it can be derived, or through other conduct that is contrary to fair commercial practices (art. 2, eerste lid).
- Do not use or disclose a trade secret without the holder's consent where you obtained it unlawfully, or where doing so breaches a confidentiality agreement or another obligation not to disclose or to limit use of it (art. 2, tweede lid).
- Do not obtain, use or disclose a trade secret where you knew, or in the circumstances should have known, that it came directly or indirectly from a person who used or disclosed it unlawfully (art. 2, derde lid).
- Information is a trade secret only if it is not generally known among or readily accessible to the circles that normally deal with it, has commercial value because it is secret, and has been subjected to reasonable steps to keep it secret (art. 1).
- Obtaining a trade secret through observation, study, dismantling or testing of a product or object made available to the public is not unlawful obtaining, unless the person obtaining it is bound by a valid obligation limiting the obtaining (art. 3, eerste lid onder b).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The holder of the trade secret, through a claim before the court for a ban on the unlawful use or disclosure (art. 6, eerste lid).
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Is data that a website shows to any visitor "gemakkelijk toegankelijk" to the circles that normally deal with it under article 1 onder a, and so outside the definition of a bedrijfsgeheim, even where the site's terms forbid copying it?
- Is querying an openly available interface and recording its responses an "observatie, onderzoek, demontage of testen van een product of voorwerp dat ter beschikking van het publiek is gesteld" under article 3, eerste lid onder b, and so a permitted way of obtaining information?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Articles 1 to 9 define a trade secret, say when obtaining, using or disclosing one is unlawful, and set the holder's remedies. They impose no duty to create, keep, produce or review a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
A trade secret is information that is secret in the sense that, as a whole or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, it is not generally known among or readily accessible to the circles that normally deal with such information, that has commercial value because it is secret, and that its lawful holder has subjected to reasonable steps to keep it secret.
Obtaining a trade secret without the holder's consent is unlawful where it was obtained through unauthorized access to, or unauthorized appropriation or copying of, documents, objects, substances, materials or electronic files that the holder lawfully controls and that contain the secret or from which it can be derived.
Obtaining a trade secret without the holder's consent is also unlawful where it was obtained through other conduct that, in the circumstances, is considered contrary to fair commercial practices. Using or disclosing a trade secret without the holder's consent is unlawful where the person obtained it unlawfully, or breaches a confidentiality agreement or another obligation not to disclose it.
Obtaining, using or disclosing a trade secret is also unlawful where the person knew, or in the circumstances should have known, that it came directly or indirectly from another person who used or disclosed it unlawfully. Obtaining a trade secret through observation, study, dismantling or testing of a product or object that has been made available to the public is not treated as unlawful obtaining, unless the person obtaining it is bound by a valid obligation limiting the obtaining.
The court rejects a claim under the Act where the obtaining, use or disclosure took place in the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and information. On the holder's claim the court may order the infringer to stop, or prohibit, the unlawful use or disclosure of the trade secret. The holder may claim damages from an infringer who knew or should have known that it obtained, used or disclosed the trade secret unlawfully. The Act took effect on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web or trains models.
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Page updated .