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By Chen Changhui and Jiang Zhipei King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Legal  Group

For decades, more and more Chinese overseas students and experienced employees in foreign enterprises have been flocking to domestic enterprises. In some cases, these employees have successfully developed products, that had been monopolized by enterprises in western countries in the name of trade secrets. Thus, Chinese enterprises are highly vulnerable to allegations by transnational enterprises of trade secret infringement. For Chinese enterprises, how to avoid falling into the pitfall of trade secret infringement and relevant legal risks, is the more immediate issue.

A trade secret falls within the protective scope of intellectual property (“IP”) laws. It refers to technical or business information which is not generally known to the public, but which has utility and can bring economic benefits to the right holder; the right holder must also have taken security measures to keep the information secret.
Continue Reading Coping Mechanisms for Trade Secret Infringement in Outbound Investment

作者：陈长会 蒋志培 金杜律师事务所专利组

近十年来，越来越多留学人员和外企职员涌向国内企业，并且凭借在外企积累的丰富经验成功开发出原被西方公司作为商业秘密加以垄断的产品。此时，一些跨国公司很容易将相关中国企业看成侵犯商业秘密的嫌犯；而这些国内企业如何防止落入侵犯商业秘密的陷阱和避开商业秘密的法律风险，更加突出地提到我们的面前。

 商业秘密是一种不为公众所知悉并难以获得、能为权利人带来经济利益、具有实用性并经权利人采取保密措施的技术信息或者商业信息，属于知识产权法保护的范围。商业秘密最大特点是其边界模糊性，即使是一个清晰配方或图纸，也往往是商业秘密和公知技术的混杂体。因此，商业秘密纠纷往往案情复杂，程序繁琐，判断困难，主观性强。
Continue Reading 走出去企业如何避免和应对商业秘密纠纷

Often, when Chinese lawyers deal with foreign-related cases they see the term "attorney-client privilege" in the foreign lawyer issued legal opinions and memorandums. Furthermore, many foreign lawyers would like to know if their communication with the Chinese lawyers they work with is provided the same amount of protection as their communication with their clients.

Black’s Law Dictionary defines attorney-client privilege as a client’s right to refuse to disclose, and to prevent anyone else from disclosing, confidential communications between him or her and his or her attorney. This privilege prevents attorneys from disclosing their communications with their clients. Furthermore, this protection prevents any other party, including, the attorney from using any information that could be considered "attorney-client privilege" as evidence in a litigation. However, there are exceptions. For example, an attorney has a duty to disclose privileged information if the disclosure is related to criminal activities. The attorney-client privilege was established to encourage honest communication between an attorney and his or her clients. This opportunity for honest communication will reduce the chance that a client will intentionally or unintentionally engage in an illegal activity due to ineffective communication with his or her attorney.

Gui Hongxia and  Li Xiang of King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

Continue Reading Attorney-client Privilege: Extended to Foreign Lawyers in China?