March 13 was the first anniversary of the entry into force of Act 1/2019, of February 1, on Trade Secrets (“LSE”)

March 13 was the first anniversary of the entry into force of Act 1/2019, of February 1, on Trade Secrets (“LSE”)
March 13 was the first anniversary of the entry into force of Act 1/2019, of February 1, on Trade Secrets (“LSE”). On the same day, the government announced the declaration of the state of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis, involving a lockdown affecting millions of people.
Without knowing the duration and scope of these exceptional circumstances, thousands of companies have been forced to implement remote working, which has highlighted the need to adequately protect their most sensitive and confidential information and knowledge.
Remote working causes greater exposure to company information and the risk that it becomes accessible to unauthorized third parties due to data leaks, theft and security breaches in computer systems (both of the company and the employees), or even provides easy access to this information to those living with the employees.
As explained in previous posts, the LSE defines “trade secret” as any information or knowledge—including technological, scientific, industrial, commercial, organizational and financial—that meets all of the following requirements:
Therefore, for information or knowledge to be protected under the LSE, not only must it be secret and of value to the company, but the company must also have taken appropriate security measures (whether physical, technical or contractual) to keep that information or knowledge secret.
How can companies ensure the protection of their trade secrets when their employees are working remotely from home? What measures should they take to keep their valuable know-how secret?
The following are some practical recommendations:
These measures can vary depending on the company and the type of information. In any event, all companies should classify any internal information considered secret and take appropriate steps to keep it safe regardless of the equipment or location. By adopting these measures and checking their implementation, companies will be better equipped to prove fulfillment of one of the requirements under the LSE and to exercise the rights it confers on trade secret holders.
Authors: Cristina Albiol and Jean-Yves Teindas
Indicate your preferences to receive email alerts on specific areas of interest
Let us know your interests and how often you wish to receive our legal alerts:
Choose areas of interestWe use our own cookies and third-party analytics technologies to identify your browsing habits and be able to offer our contents based on your interests, while improving your security. For more information, select "more information" to access our Cookies policy to enable or disable cookies at any time.
More information