Protecting Trade Secrets in Brazil is critical to the success of businesses. In a highly competitive market like Brazil, confidential information is a valuable intangible asset, a factor that helps businesses create a competitive advantage in the market. If not strictly protected, confidential information can be exploited by competitors, causing serious damage to businesses. In addition, Brazilian law also has specific regulations on the protection of trade secrets, in order to ensure the legitimate interests of businesses and create a healthy business environment. Therefore, the development and implementation of trade secret protection measures is one of the top priorities of businesses operating in Brazil. Viet An Law would like to guide customers through the preliminary procedures for protecting Trade Secrets in Brazil through the article below.
Legal basis for protecting trade secrets in Brazil
In Brazil, trade secret protection laws do not give you or your business special ownership rights to those rights. Instead, the law aims to prevent trade secrets from becoming public information to prevent unfair competitive practices. In other words, it doesn’t matter who owns the trade secret or who discovered it. If a business has a trade secret and it is discovered, there will be unfair competition in the market, which is a major concern in Brazil.
The term “trade secret” is not even part of Brazilian law, so it will be defined differently on a case-by-case basis. A trade secret can involve almost any area of law, such as:
- Technology Trade Secrets: If your business uses a certain technology to develop or enhance its unique product or service, then it can be protected.
- Administrative Trade Secrets: In some cases, a business may have a unique way of managing employees or training employees, which provides a competitive advantage. Such administrative methods are protected as trade secrets.
- Economic trade secrets: If you develop or discover a special way to handle the company’s cash flow, that idea can be considered a trade secret.
Conditions for the protection of trade secrets in Brazil
In Brazil, not all information that gives a competitive advantage is considered a trade secret. In order to be protected by law, such information must meet certain conditions.
- First, the information must be kept reasonably confidential and not easily known to outsiders.
- Second, the information must have real commercial value and bring a competitive advantage to the business.
- Finally, that information is not collected illegally.
Infringement of trade secrets in Brazil
Although Brazilian law does not have a specific definition of “trade secret” like many other countries, acts that infringe on the legitimate interests of the owner of the trade secret are strictly prohibited. Based on the general principles of Brazilian law and judicial practice, some typical violations can be identified as follows:
- Unauthorized access to and collection of confidential information: Including the use of deceitful technical means or tricks to steal information without the permission of the owner.
- Disclosure of Confidential Information to Third Parties: Sharing confidential information with persons who do not have a right to know, or using it for personal or competitive purposes.
- Using confidential information to create an unfair competitive advantage: Taking advantage of confidential information to produce and trade similar products or services, causing damage to the owner.
- Breach of confidentiality obligations: For those who already have access to confidential information, disclosure of information after the termination of the partnership or violation of the confidentiality provisions of the contract is also considered infringement.
There are many ways to protect your critical business information, some common methods include:
- Confidentiality agreement: When sharing information with others, ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement to ensure that the information is not disclosed.
- Confidentiality clauses in employment contracts: Include confidentiality clauses in employees’ employment contracts so that they understand the company’s responsibility to protect information.
- Data encryption: Encrypt sensitive data to prevent unauthorized access.
- Use passwords: Set strong passwords to protect access to systems and documents that contain sensitive information.
- Physical Protection: Store important documents in a safe or safe place to prevent theft.
