Supreme People's Court Previews Judicial Interpretation of Trade Secret Protection Provisions for Public Comment

Supreme People's Court Previews Judicial Interpretation of Trade Secret Protection Provisions for Public Comment

June 22, 2020, Covington Alert

On June 10, 2020, the PRC Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) issued its proposed Interpretation on Certain Issues in Applications of Law in Adjudicating Civil Trade Secret Cases (Draft for Public Comments) (hereinafter the “Draft” or “Draft Judicial Interpretation”) . The Draft includes significant developments in China’s trade secret law following the Economic and Trade Agreement signed by the United States and China on January 15, 2020 (“Phase One Trade Agreement”) and China’s 2019 legislative amendment to its trade secret statute, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (“AUCL”). The Draft, once promulgated, is expected to bring more clarity for the lower courts to handle civil trade secret cases as well as more certainty for litigants in the recommended procedures for courts to follow. We recommend multinational companies continue to monitor development in this rule-making to ensure trade secret strategy conforms to current China practice.