Companies possess a vast amount of information, among which are trade secrets generated in the process of research, development, and business activities. There are instances where these trade secrets are illicitly taken out, causing significant damage. Particularly, when an employee leaves the company and takes trade secrets to a competitor or uses them to start a new company, serious damage may occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In such cases, civil and criminal measures can be taken. However, for this to be possible, the information in question must be a ‘trade secret’ under the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nArticle 2, Paragraph 6 of the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act
In this Act, “trade secrets” refer to technical or business information useful in business activities that are managed as secrets and are not publicly known, such as production methods and sales methods.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nIf the information falls under the ‘trade secret’ of the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act, the act of illicitly taking it out or knowingly using it after it has been illicitly taken out by someone else can be subject to a claim for damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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