Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure (Text with EEA relevance)
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For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:
‘trade secret’ means information which meets all of the following requirements:
it is secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question;
it has commercial value because it is secret;
it has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret;
‘trade secret holder’ means any natural or legal person lawfully controlling a trade secret;
‘infringer’ means any natural or legal person who has unlawfully acquired, used or disclosed a trade secret;
‘infringing goods’ means goods, the design, characteristics, functioning, production process or marketing of which significantly benefits from trade secrets unlawfully acquired, used or disclosed.
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