The Supreme People's Court concluded a case of trade secrets infringement between the Appellant Foshan A Company and the Appellees of eleven accused infringers, including Suzhou B Company. The court found that the technical information claimed by Foshan A Company in the second instance was clear, and ruled to remand the case for retrial.
In this case, Foshan A Company claims that eleven accused infringers, including Suzhou B Company, have infringed on its technical secrets, and has submitted a "Trade Secret Points Explanation" to clarify the content of the technical secret points claimed for protection. The secret points carrier files include drawings and tables in a Judicial Appraisal Opinion.
Upon examination, the first-instance court found that the secret points of the technical information for which protection is claimed by Foshan A Company were not specific, and ruled to reject its claims.
After trial, the Supreme People's Court concluded that if a right holder claims that technical information recorded in the drawings is a technical secret, the right holder can claim either one piece or some of the technical details recorded in the drawings is a technical secret or that the entire collection of technical information recorded in the drawings is a technical secret. In principle, right holders should clarify the specific content of the claimed technical secrets before the end of the first instance court debate, and for the technical secrets proposed hereafter, the people's court does not have to examine them. In the second instance of this case, Foshan A Company further clarified and limited the technical secret carrier files and technical secret content that had been claimed in the first instance, and the technical information claimed in the second instance should be accepted, as it was only a further limitation on the specific content of the technical secret previously claimed, which does not exceed the scope of the technical secret claimed before the end of the first instance court debate. Since the first-instance court did not examine if the technical and business information claimed by Foshan A Company were trade secrets, or determine if Suzhou B Company and other accused parties committed infringement and should bear corresponding liability, the Supreme People’s Court ruled to revoke the first-instance judgment and ordered the first-instance court to carry out retrial.
The selection and clarification of technical secret content is the initial and critical point of the trial of disputes over technical secret infringement, and the determination of technical secret content often involves numerous factual determinations and complex legal judgments. This case again clarifies that the induction of technical secrets is a relatively subjective and gradual process; technical secret information cannot be publicly disclosed, and the forms of expression vary due to technical fields and concrete information content. Therefore, the requirements for the party concerned to summarize and conclude technical secret content shall not be overly high. This case has a certain reference value for the trial of similar cases.
(2022) Zui Gao Fa Zhi Min Zhong No. 20
If you have any questions about the protection of intellectual property rights, please feel free to send us emails. For patent-related matters, please send to info@afdip.com. For trademark/litigation/legal matters, please send to info@bhtdlaw.com.
