Guangdong has released 5 typical cases of trade secret protection involving integrated circuits, medical products, online games, and other fields

2026-07-06
Trade secrets are the core competitiveness of enterprises and an important source of stimulating market innovation vitality. In recent years, with the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, the protection of trade secrets in fields such as electronic data, online games, and intelligent manufacturing is facing new challenges. In order to continuously help create a fair competition, honest and orderly market environment, and safeguard the development of new quality productivity, the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation released five typical cases of trade secret protection during the fourth "Enterprise Trade Secret Protection Capability Enhancement" service month in June 2026.



Case 1


Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration Nanshan Supervision Bureau investigates and deals with a case of personal infringement of trade secrets by a certain electronic development company and its employees in Shenzhen
Basic case:

Qiu was originally an employee of a certain electronic technology company (rights holder) in Shenzhen. After leaving, he became the actual person in charge of the South China region of a certain electronic development company in Shenzhen. The two companies he worked for had competitive business relationships. Qiu obtained real-time customer demand and transaction information from the rights holder's current employee Zhu, including product model, purchase price, sale price, order status, and prepayment quantity, for the use of the current company. These information cannot be obtained through public channels, are not known to the public, can bring transaction opportunities, have commercial value, and the rights holder has taken confidentiality measures by signing confidentiality agreements with employees, which belong to the rights holder's trade secrets. Qiu, Zhu, and a certain electronic development company in Shenzhen have all committed illegal acts of infringing on trade secrets, and the Nanshan Supervision Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation has filed and investigated them separately.



Application of Law and Penalties:

Zhu's disclosure of trade secrets in violation of the confidentiality agreement during his tenure violates Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item (3) and Paragraph 2 of the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (revised in 2019); The behavior of Qiu and Shenzhen Electronic Development Co., Ltd. knowingly obtaining and using information from illegal sources violates Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 3 of the law. According to Article 21 of the law, the Nanshan Supervision Bureau of the Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration imposed fines of 100000 yuan on Qiu and Zhu respectively, and fined 380000 yuan on a certain electronic development company in Shenzhen.



Case analysis:

The window for obtaining evidence in trade secret cases is short, and the fixed core evidence often requires the participation of multiple departments with clear division of labor, forming a joint force. In this case, the market supervision department and the public security department jointly enforced the law, ensuring that key evidence such as electronic chat records were effectively fixed and ensuring the smooth investigation of the case.



Case 2


Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration Guangming Supervision Bureau investigates and deals with Huang's infringement of trade secrets case
Basic case:

Huang is a former employee of the rights holder. During his tenure, he copied the project information of a medical product he was responsible for to his personal computer. After resigning, Huang posted on his social media platform seeking cooperation in developing medical products. A company in Shanghai contacted and had a face-to-face meeting with Huang, during which he presented the project information to the company, but the two parties did not reach a cooperation agreement. After appraisal, the project data belongs to technical information that is not known to the public. The rights holder has established a confidentiality system, signed confidentiality agreements with employees and taken confidentiality measures, and invested development costs in the technology for product production, which has commercial value. Huang's behavior violates the confidentiality agreement and constitutes infringement of others' trade secrets.



Application of Law and Penalties:

The behavior of the parties involved violates the provisions of Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item (3) and Paragraph 2 of the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (revised in 2019). Considering that the parties actively cooperate with the investigation, truthfully disclose the illegal facts, proactively provide relevant evidence materials, and reach a settlement with the rights holder, and have no illegal gains, in accordance with Article 21 of the Law and Article 5 (2) and Article 6 of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China, and referring to Article 12 (2) of the Administrative Penalty Discretionary Power Application Rules of the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, the Guangming Supervision Bureau of the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation imposes a fine of 20000 yuan on the parties.



Case analysis:

This case is a typical example of a former employee violating confidentiality obligations and infringing on trade secrets. When Huang joined the company, he signed a confidentiality agreement and should have known that the information involved in the case was a trade secret. After leaving the company, he secretly kept and displayed it to others, seeking cooperation. Although no cooperation was reached, the act of storage and disclosure itself constituted infringement. Warning in this case: Confidentiality obligations do not cease upon termination of the labor contract, and resignation is not the end of confidentiality obligations. Any unauthorized storage or disclosure behavior is illegal.



Case 3


Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration investigates and deals with Gan's infringement of trade secrets case
Basic case:

The party involved, Mr. Gan, was originally a senior architect and technical director of a technology company owned by the rights holder. During his tenure, he was responsible for product research and development, had access to core business information, and signed a "Confidentiality Agreement" and a "Confidentiality and Non Competition Agreement". On April 26, 2023, the rights holder discovered through surveillance that Gan violated confidentiality regulations by unauthorized use of a personal USB drive to copy a large amount of confidential information to his personal laptop, and immediately terminated his employment relationship. After investigation and judicial appraisal commissioned by the Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration, it was found that Gan copied the source code and related design scheme of the "Xtwin builder (monitoring object management module)" in the "certain centralized monitoring system software V5.1" without permission. As of the time of the incident, Gan has not disclosed or used the aforementioned trade secrets and has no illegal gains.



Application of Law and Penalties:

The behavior of the parties involved violates Article 9, Paragraph 1, Items (1) and (2) of the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (2019 Amendment), and constitutes obtaining the trade secrets of the rights holder through unfair means. Considering that it only obtained undisclosed use, cooperated with the investigation, truthfully stated, and actively provided evidence, it meets the mitigating circumstances. According to Article 21 of the Law and Article 32 of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China, the Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration shall order the cessation of illegal activities and impose a fine of 10000 yuan.



Case analysis:

The market supervision department still imposes administrative penalties on the infringement of trade secrets that are only obtained and not used, effectively implementing the legislative spirit of protecting trade secrets in advance, clarifying that the establishment of infringement does not require the occurrence of actual damage consequences, and effectively deterring potential violators. At the same time, when imposing fines, comprehensive consideration should be given to situations such as no actual damage and active cooperation, and the punishment should be reduced in accordance with the law. This not only reflects a zero tolerance attitude, but also takes into account the principle of proportionate punishment, which has reference and demonstration significance for similar internal employee infringement cases.



Case 4


Guangzhou Haizhu District Market Supervision Administration investigates and deals with the case of Liang's infringement of online game trade secrets
Basic case:

In June 2025, the Market Supervision Administration of Haizhu District received a report from a company that its employee Liang was suspected of leaking undisclosed game information. After investigation, employee Liang violated the company's trade secret protection system by leaking undisclosed game music, plot, activity preheating posters, etc. to friends through WeChat, resulting in game information being disclosed in advance on online platforms and causing losses to the company.



Application of Law and Penalties:

This behavior constitutes an infringement of trade secrets as stipulated in Article 9 (1) (3) and (2) of the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (revised in 2019); According to Article 21 of the law, it is decided to order the parties involved to immediately cease their illegal activities and impose a fine of 100000 yuan.



Case analysis:

Protecting trade secrets is an important measure to maintain the core competitiveness of enterprises, avoid the leakage and loss of technology, business strategies, etc. It is conducive to preventing unfair competition, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and market advantages. The game information involved in this case was not known to the public before its official release, and confidentiality measures were taken for undisclosed content, which is a common business model for the online gaming industry to increase game popularity and market attention. The game information is formed through long-term investment, innovative research and development, and continuous accumulation by the rights holder in the process of operation, and has core commercial value. It is an important basis for the rights holder to participate in market competition. This case, through rapid filing, thorough investigation, and precise characterization, took only 64 days from filing to administrative punishment, effectively curbing the harm caused by leakage behavior and forming a strong warning and deterrent effect in the online gaming industry, demonstrating a clear direction of strictly protecting trade secrets and regulating market competition order.



Case 5


The Market Supervision Administration of Zengcheng District, Guangzhou City investigates and deals with a case of infringement of trade secrets by a certain automotive supplies company in Guangzhou
Basic case:

The party involved, Guangzhou Automotive Supplies Co., Ltd., is a manufacturing and sales company of automotive supplies. Due to the need to start the production line of automotive seat covers, they paid 130000 yuan to the former employee pattern designer He of the rights holder, and obtained more than 794 sets of electronic data of automotive seat cover pattern drawings from the rights holder. The party concerned knowingly or should have known that He obtained the electronic data of the above-mentioned pattern drawings through unauthorized and improper means, but still purchased and used them for production and operation without authorization. The electronic data analysis and comparison of the handling unit indicate that the electronic data of the above-mentioned pattern drawings belong to the trade secrets of the rights holder.



Application of Law and Penalties:

The party's behavior violates the provisions of Article 9, Paragraph 3 of the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (revised in 2019). According to Article 21 of the law, the party is ordered to stop the illegal behavior and is subject to an administrative penalty of a fine of 130000 yuan. Regarding the infringement of trade secrets by former employee He, the law enforcement agency will handle it separately.



Case analysis:

This case reflects the characteristics of handling trade secret cases in the digital age. The evidence involved is all electronic data, which has the characteristics of large quantity, easy tampering, and easy loss, and places extremely high demands on law enforcement and evidence collection. Law enforcement officers used electronic data hash value comparison methods to scientifically and accurately verify the consistency of the involved data, solving the problem of difficult identification of electronic data identity for trade secrets and providing reference for similar cases. At the same time, law enforcement officers identified loopholes in the management of trade secrets of the rights holders, guided them to improve systems for managing confidential electronic data and controlling the confidentiality of departing personnel, effectively preventing significant economic losses for the rights holders in the future.





Source: Guangdong Market Supervision
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