Implementation of the Trade Secrets Directive in Portugal and Spain
In Jens Schovsbo, Timo Minssen, Thomas Riis (eds.) The Harmonization and Protection of Trade Secrets in the EU: An Appraisal of the EU Directive (Edward Elgar, 2020 Forthcoming)
Posted: 27 Apr 2020
Date Written: April 30, 2019
Abstract
The present chapter explores the implementation of the EU Trade Secret Directive (TS Dir) into the respective national legal orders in Portugal and Spain.
In Portugal, implementation of the TS Dir. was part of a broader intellectual property (IP) legislative reform package. This reform entailed the approval of a new Industrial Property Code (CPI2018) witch transposes both the new Trade Mark Directive and the TS Dir.; but also modified procedural norms relating to the competence of the IP court and new rules on IP arbitration. In Spain, implementation has been made by specific TS legislation – The Law on Trade Secrets (LSE), approved in December 2019. The implementation of the TS Dir. has resulted in extensive changes on how both the Portuguese and Spanish legal systems address the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information against acquisition, use and disclosure without consent. In some respects, further clarification of the directive by the CJEU, as well as further legislative initiatives will be welcome.
The chapter contains an introduction (section 1), and overview of the pre-directive frameworks (Section 2), the post-directive national TS legislation (section 3), expected post-implementation legal developments (section 4); and the main conclusions of our analysis.
Keywords: Trade Secret Directive, Trade Secrets in Portugal, Trade Secrets in Spain
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