Trade secrets better protected

Perhaps the term "trade secret" captures the imagination and sounds exciting, but in fact it is about any piece of information of value. Robin Evens, Valerie Lipman, Ruud Olde and Reinier Pijls shed light on the term from the industry team 'Production & Industry'. From their industry knowledge, they deploy just the right expertise.

Poelmann van den Broek has a number of areas of expertise, including business, labor, construction, environment and government, leasing and real estate, intellectual property and privacy. In addition, the attorneys work together in three industry teams: Construction & Real Estate, Manufacturing & Industry and Retail. Valerie: "We are up to date with the market in which our clients operate in order to provide them with the best advice." Reinier adds: "Trade secrets play a pre-eminent role in manufacturing companies. The recent affaire at ASML is an example of this. It shows that the protection of company information must be well regulated both front and back. Much can be laid down in advance in contracts, with possible sanctions included for breach of contract."

TRADE SECRETS PROTECTION ACT (WBB)

Last year, the Trade Secrets Protection Act went into effect in the Netherlands. It provides an additional basis for taking action if a trade secret is violated. Valerie: "Not only are intellectual property rights such as patents and trademark rights important to organizations, so are trade secrets, of course. Think of production processes, recipes or commercial processes and customer and supplier data. These often represent great value."

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY VERSUS TRADE SECRETS

With intellectual property, registration gives you exclusive rights, but what you protect also becomes public by registration. Competitors can then learn about it. With trade secrets, you want to avoid that and keep essential information secret.

Reinier: "Before the Wbb, there was no specific regulation for the protection of trade secrets. However, an aggrieved party could act on the basis of breached agreements in, for example, a confidentiality agreement. If there were no agreements, a claim could only be made in tort."

That is different now. The Wbb defines a trade secret as "information that is not generally known and/or not easily accessible, that has commercial value because it is secret and is kept secret by 'reasonable measures.'" 'Reasonable measures' include, for example, technical security measures or confidentiality agreements. Reinier: "The law further lists specific measures to be claimed in the event of breach of a trade secret. Damages can also be claimed." Valerie concludes, "Finally, the successful party can now claim the full litigation costs from the other party. That's an improvement, but still you have to make good agreements about it.

Robin Evens

Manufacturing companies also have to deal with decision-making by government agencies, such as when expanding the production site or because of environmental issues. I guide and advise on those procedures, so business owners can deal with their own expertise."

Reinier Pijls

Good cashflow management is essential, especially in manufacturing companies where there is some time between production and payment. I advise both on the front end (e.g., on various forms of financing and accounts receivable management) and on the back end (e.g., getting hard-to-collect invoices paid).

Ruud Olde

The labor factor - despite ever increasing automation - still plays a major role within the Manufacturing & Industry sector. The enormous variety of labor law issues makes this industry downright fascinating for our service area."

Valerie Lipman

Consulting on contracts and intellectual property rights is eminently challenging for me in the innovative manufacturing industry.

This page was last updated on August 16, 2023.