Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 4 / 2024
ISSN (Print) 2308-0361
ISSN (Online) 2519-2744
PDF (Ukrainian)DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/42024.317234
Submitted 2024-11-04
Accepted 2024-11-13
Published 2024-12-10
Trade secret and protection of whistleblowers under the legislation of the EU and Ukraine
Yuliia Lenho
Scientific researcher at the Center for Legal Support for the Development of Science and Technology of the Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4368-1793
Abstract
In order to bring Ukrainian legislation closer to European Union legislation, there is a need to study national legislation on the relationship between the protection of trade secrets and the protection of whistleblowers. This article contains an analysis of the legislation of the EU and Ukraine on the relationship between the legal regulation of the protection of trade secrets and the protection of whistleblowers.
The analysis conducted in the article found that: EU legislation on the protection of whistleblowers complements the legislation on the protection of trade secrets; in Ukraine, there is no special legislation on the protection of trade secrets, and the legislation on the protection of whistleblowers has a limited effect and applies only to whistleblowers who have disclosed information about corruption acts; trade secret is not subject to protection in case of its illegal acquisition, use and disclosure in order to protect public interests; the whistleblower is exempted from liability for disclosure of trade secrets that were obtained legally if he had reasonable grounds to believe that such disclosure was necessary to identify the offense; reporting information about an offense that discloses a trade secret and is subject to a NDA is not a violation of trade secret rights, except in the case of knowingly false reporting; it is necessary to ensure the protection of whistleblowers from any form of revenge and provided guarantees of the protection of their labor rights, as well as to provide protection to the employer who may suffer from the whistleblower who unreasonably disclosed a trade secret when reporting an alleged offense; in Ukraine, there is a need to create special legislation that will include cases where commercial secrets can be disclosed without negative consequences in the form of legal liability.
It was concluded that in Ukraine, it is necessary to create a consolidated legislative act to strengthen legislative guarantees for the protection of trade secrets and the protection of whistleblowers, which will comply with Directive (EU) 2016/943 and Directive (EU) 2019/1937.
Keywords: trade secret, whistleblowers, public interests protection, disclosure of information
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