China Civil Law included trade secrets into the intellectual property object on October 1, 2017
Trade secret protection and patent protection, in the technical field, are two important ways of the protection of intellectual property rights. With the continuous improvement of the patent system in recent years, the rules of protection of trade secrets are increasingly concerned by the industry.
On October 1, 2017, the formal implementation of China Civil Code in Article 123, included the trade secret into works, inventions, utility models, designs, trademarks and other juxtaposition of intellectual property object. After 24 years, the trade secret is finally promoted to the civil law level. We can see the importance of trade secrets.
March 15, 2017, in the Twelfth National People’s Congress five meeting, with 2782 votes in favor of the vote, the vote by the “People’s Republic of China Civil Code General”, since October 1, 2017 from the implementation. Article 123 (2)-5 of the General Principles of Civil Law incorporates “Trade Secrets” into the object of intellectual property rights. It has led to end up with the controversy over the nature of “Trade Secrets” in the past. On the other hand, this is also regarded as legislative affirmation toward the trade secrets of China Civil Law.