Protection of secret know-how and trade secrets related to Slovenian law and EU law

Magistrsko delo obravnava poslovno skrivnost ter tehnično znanje in izkušnje v luči slovenskega pravnega reda in prava EU. V zvezi s tem ugotavlja, da pojem poslovna skrivnost ni poenoten, kar predstavlja problem in povzroča zmedo pri osebah, ki jih pravo s predpisi varuje. V slovenskem pravnem redu je poslovna skrivnost definirana v različnih zakonih, a jo določeni zakoni interpretirajo širše kot drugi. Določeni podatki se tako po enem zakonu smatrajo za poslovno skrivnost in jih zakon kot take tudi varuje, medtem ko se ti isti podatki ne štejejo za dovolj bistvene, da bi jih po drugem zakonu lahko kvalificirali kot poslovno skrivnost. Tudi v pravu EU pojem ni bil poenoten do sprejema Direktive o varstvu nerazkritega strokovnega znanja in izkušenj, katere namen je harmonizacija pravil s področja varovanja poslovne skrivnosti ter s tem pospeševanje mednarodnega sodelovanja. Različna pravila glede varstva poslovne skrivnosti ter tajnega znanja in izkušenj namreč preprečujejo nemoteno delovanje ter rast notranjega trga, kar ni dobro niti za gospodarske družbe niti za Unijo samo. Slovenski pravni red bo navedeno direktivo implementiral z Zakonom o poslovnih skrivnostih. Zakon je trenutno v pripravljalni fazi tako da se še ne ve, ali bo upošteval načelo minimalne harmonizacije in določena področja morda uredil strožje z namenom boljšega varstva poslovne skrivnosti. Z njegovim sprejetjem pa bo tako tudi v slovenskem pravnem redu poenotena definicija pojma poslovna skrivnost. Ugotoviti je mogoče, da kljub pravni naravi poslovne skrivnosti in njenemu namenu varovanja konkurenčne prednosti gospodarske družbe na trgu, zakon še vseeno daje prednost javnemu interesu v določenih primerih. Ekonomski interes se tako umakne javnemu interesu v primeru varstva javnega zdravja, varovanja okolja ter zaščiti potrošnikov. Prav tako je ugotoviti, da pojem tajno znanje in izkušnje spada pod poslovno skrivnost in sicer kot poseben del poslovne skrivnosti zaradi njegove tehnične narave in pogoja tajnosti. Kljub temu pa delo predstavi tudi mnenja različnih avtorjev, ki si niso enotni in je v literaturi zato mogoče najti tri različna stališča – tajno znanje in izkušnje so del poslovne skrivnosti, tajno znanje in izkušnje so svojevrstna kategorija ter tajno znanje in izkušnje so poseben, bolj specializiran del poslovnih skrivnosti. Pravo EU je navedeno dilemo rešilo tako, da razlaga pojem poslovna skrivnost široko in z njim razume tudi tajno znanje in izkušnje. Navedeni problemi so v magistrskem delu obravnavani predvsem s pomočjo razlage zakonov, strokovnih del in tudi s sodno prakso.The master thesis deals with trade secrets and know-how in the light of the Slovenian legal system and European Law. In this regard, it concludes that the definition of trade secret is not unified, which is a problem and creates confusion in persons who are protected by law with these rules. In the Slovenian legal system, the definition can be found in various acts, but it is interpreted by certain acts wider than others. According to one act, certain information is considered a trade secret and is protected by the law as such, while the same data are not considered to be substantial enough to qualify them as a trade secret under another act. Even in the EU law, the definition was not unified. Recently, the Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure has been adopted in this field, which aims to harmonize rules on protection of trade secrets and thus promote international cooperation. Different rules on protection of trade secrets and know-how prevent undisturbed functioning and growth of the internal market, which is neither good for companies nor for the Union itself. The Slovenian legal system will implement that directive with the Trade Secrets Act. The act is currently in the preparatory phase, but it is yet unsure whether the law will comply with the principle of minimum harmonization and possibly regulate certain areas more strictly in order to protect trade secrets better. With its adoption in the Slovenian legal system, the definition of trade secret will be unified. A further conclusion of the master\u27s thesis is that the law, despite the legal nature of trade secrets and their purpose of protecting the competitive advantage of the company on the market, nevertheless, yields to the public interest in certain cases. The economic interest thus withdraws from the way of public interest in the cases of the protection of public health, the protection of the environment and the protection of consumers. The last conclusion of the master\u27s thesis is that the notion of know-how falls under the trade secret - the author considers know-how as a special part of trade secret due to its technical nature and the condition of secrecy. Nevertheless, the work also presents the opinions of various authors on the topic which are not unified and therefore three different points of view are found in the literature - know-how is part of business secrets, know-how is a unique category, and know-how is a special, more specialized part of trade secrets. EU law has solved the dilemma by interpreting the notion of trade secrets so broadly that it also understands know-how as a part of it. These problems are addressed in the master\u27s thesis mainly through the interpretation of laws, professional papers and case-law as well