The Influence of digitalization to the legal protection of trade secrets
ENThe economy is increasingly based on knowledge and valuable proprietary information, which is used as a business competitive tool. Most of knowledge or information from which business derive competitive advantages nowadays is considered to be and protected as trade secrets. We should admit that fast paced development and use of information technologies, as a part of digitalization process, increasingly influences not only the business competition, but also the protection and use of business knowledge and valuable proprietary information. Especially given the fact that most of the information is stored and accessible as electronic data. This paper will explore what is the influence of development and use of information technologies to legal protection of trade secrets and to prohibition of unfair competition actions upon unlawful disclosure and (or) use of trade secrets. Subsequently, this paper will deal with analysis of new European Union regulation on protection of trade secrets, (i. e. directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure) and will highlight whether new European Union regulation covers main challenges of digitalization to the protection of trade secrets.
