The Proposal for Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets: A Proposal to Harmonise a type of Intellectual Property that has not previously been the Subject of EU Legislation

Abstract

One of the last few remaining areas of intellectual property not yet to have been touched by EU legislation, that of trade secrets, is set to be harmonised at an EU level under a proposal for a Directive on the subject issued by the European Commission on 28 November 2013.  This article outlines this proposal, the divergences in national laws in Europe that it seeks to overcome, and those aspects of the law of trade secrets which it does not address or which remain controversial.