The need to strengthen trade secret’s preservation methods in Vietnam
In this highly advanced technology era, the protection of a trade secret is not as easy as in the old days where people have to physically ‘steal’ anything anymore. Nowadays, people can just sit in front of a laptop and steal some data half a world away. Accordingly, this calls for some immense increase and fortification of our trade secret’s preservation methods.
A trade secret is one of the most important aspects of a business’s success because, without it, that company is no longer ‘unique’. For instance, Coca-Cola’s formula has been one of the most long-lasting trade secrets of all time. Starting from a small company no one knows nearly 150 years ago, Coca-Cola has thrived to become one of the world’s largest beverage companies thanks to the incredibly high security of its trade secret – Coca-Cola’s recipe.
According to WIPO, Trade secrets are intellectual property (IP) rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed.
In general, to qualify as a trade secret, the information must be:
- Commercially valuable because it is secret;
- Be known only to a limited group of persons;
- Be subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the Information to keep it secret, including the use of confidentiality Agreements for business partners and employees.
Like the United States, Vietnam also has many renowned companies who thrive from their trade secret. However, like most countries in the world, Vietnam doesn’t have very strict rules and regulations on how to protect those trade secrets and the penalties imposed on the individuals/organizations who violate and steal those trade secrets.
Accordingly, the Vietnamese government needs to build a comprehensive legal environment to prevent and punish the act of intellectual property theft, especially regarding trade secrets.
Furthermore, not just to adapt to the change in the world, but Vietnam needs to have a comprehensive trade secret preservation method in order to comply with international treaties like the CPTPP. Specifically, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership has required member countries to establish criminal sanctions for trade secret misappropriation.
Strengthen trade secret’s preservation methods in Vietnam
According to article 18.78 of the CPTPP, each member country of the Agreement shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties for one or more of the following actions:
- The unauthorized and willful access to a trade secret held in a computer system;
- The unauthorized and willful misappropriation of a trade secret, including by means of a computer system; or
- The fraudulent disclosure, or alternatively, the unauthorized and wilful disclosure, of a trade secret, including by means of a computer system.
On the other hand, Vietnam’s Criminal Code 2015, amended in 2017, hasn’t clearly stated the penalties for trade secret violations like the CPTPP. Specifically, the law only gives out some vague expressions of some misappropriation of what considers to be a ‘trade secret’:
- Article 159: Infringement of secrecy or security of another person’s mail, telephone, telegraph, or other forms of private information exchange;
- Article 288: Illegal provision or use of information on computer networks or telecommunications networks;
- Article 289: Illegal infiltration into another person’s computer network or telecommunications network or electronic device.
To clarify, the scope of these articles is limited to information exchange, information on computer networks, etc. Accordingly, these articles only cover a portion of what is considered to be a trade secret and therefore, don’t fully comply with the CPTPP’s requirements.
The current law of Vietnam lacks any criminal measures to tackle ‘offline’ misappropriation, let alone trade secret theft or economic espionage. Thus, the Vietnamese government needs to address these problems and create or amended, supplemented a law that has the ability to stop and prevent the act of trade secret violation and misappropriation to the benefit of economic development.
*** Other Articles***
– You could visit here to see the Trademark Registration in Vietnam.
– You can also check the Vietnam Trademark Law: Detailed Guide And Legal Notes.
– You could check Questions of filing trademark in Vietnam: POA, Trademark requirement and trademark fee in Vietnam.
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