A case involving infringement of trade secrets

2025-11-19
The case of infringement of trade secrets between Shenzhen xxx Yuan Technology Co., Ltd., xxx, xxx Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (the Chinese name is xxx Yuan Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.) and Dongguan xxxx Technology Co., Ltd. 


(1) Basic Facts 

Shenzhen xxx Yuan Technology Co., Ltd., xxx, and xxx Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (the Chinese name of xxx Yuan Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.) filed a civil lawsuit with the Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, claiming that Dongguan xxxx Technology Co., Ltd. infringed upon their trade secrets. In this case, we are the agent representing the defendant and are defending against the plaintiff's claims. 


The Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province held that the commercial secrets claimed by the plaintiff did not comply with the provisions of Article 9 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" and the relevant provisions of the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Civil Cases of Unfair Competition" by the Supreme People's Court. The evidence presented by the plaintiff to claim that Lifang Company infringed upon its commercial secrets was insufficient. Therefore, the court completely rejected the plaintiff's claims. 


The defendant then appealed to the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province. The Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province upheld the original judgment after reviewing the case on appeal. 


(2) Typical Significance 

According to Article 9 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" and the relevant provisions of the "Interpretation by the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Civil Cases Involving Unfair Competition", a trade secret refers to technical information, business information, and other commercial information that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and has been subject to corresponding confidentiality measures by the rights holder. Among the trade secrets, the customer list generally refers to the names, addresses, contact information of customers, as well as their transaction habits, intentions, contents, etc., which are special customer information distinct from the publicly known information. 


In this case, the plaintiff claimed that the trade secret was specific customer information. However, the evidence provided by the plaintiff was unable to clearly specify which information of the customers constituted the trade secret, making it difficult to determine that this customer information fell under the protection of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.

In similar cases, reference should be made to Article 9 of the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Civil Cases Involving Unfair Competition" issued by the Supreme People's Court regarding the determination of trade secrets, in order to accurately determine whether the relevant information can be regarded as a trade secret.
Return
Previous:Regarding the administrative dispute over the invalidation of an invention patent right Next:A case involving infringement of design patent rights