| Abstract [eng] |
This Master’s thesis provides information about the concept of the trade secret, criteria for the information to be considered as a trade secret and the remedies, which are available to the trade secret owner in case his rights are violated. Case law and legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and other foreign countries, as well as other literature, was used to examine the following aspects. The main object was to investigate which information can be considered as a trade secret and provide the possible remedies for the trade secret owner in case his rights are violated. This Master’s thesis was divided into three parts, which consist of the concept of trade secret, available remedies (mainly analysing the civil liability and the damages compensation mechanism) and the procedural remedies. Given the fact that trade secret is a rarely studied topic in Lithuania, other available sources were used to provide a larger scope of this topic, including studies which were prepared in the European Union and other literature. It must be admitted, that trade secrets must be considered to be an intellectual property right, which is a very valuable asset. This conclusion is based on the fact that trade secrets can be protected for an unlimited period of time, the information object of the information is very broad – trade secrets can contain inventions, recipes and other valuable information. For trade secrets to be protected, the owner does not have to register it in any register. The information can be considered to be a trade secret when it is held as a secret and the owner makes reasonable effort to protect it and the information is valuable or it may have a potential value. After analysing case law and legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, it is obvious that the available remedies are not systemized. Given this, it is impossible to provide unambiguous conclusion about the available remedies. Even more, the compensation of the damages for the owner of the trade secret is not broadly discussed in case law. In most cases, the owner of the trade secret is rewarded with the loss of income. Given the information above, this Master’s thesis provides a broader spectrum of available remedies for the owners of trade secrets. These remedies contain a possibility to use an expert, who would provide conclusion about the information, without any third parties having a possibility to familiarise with the information, the possibility to take preventive action, a broader scope of interim measures and etc. |
