Answer: The judicial interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on labor disputes in 2020 stipulates that employer can pay three months of non-competition allowance to relieve the employee’s non-competition obligation. According to Article 38 of the judicial interpretation, an employee can only notify the employer to terminate the non-competition agreement when the employer has notRead more about 159.Can I cancel the non-competition agreement?[…]

Answer: Above all, an employee who bears obligation of non-competition but violated the obligation ought to assume the liability of breach of contract. Secondly, if the employee’s non-competition agreement stipulates a high amount of liquidated damages, whether the liquidated damages are binding depends on the following factors: the amount of the employee’s non-competition allowance, theRead more about 160.The non-competition penalty stipulated in my non-competition agreement is 5 million. Is this provision binding?[…]

Answer: At present, there are fundamental defects in the legal framework of trade secrets in China. They are mainly manifested in the liability for trade secret infringement concerning customer information. The Chinese legal system regards trade secrets as a kind of property right, granting them indefinite protection as long as the trade secret remains confidential.Read more about 161.Some Thoughts on the Reform of the Legal System Framework of China’s Trade Secrets regarding Customer Information[…]

Answer: Infringement of an company’s trade secrets by an employee on or off the job not only violates the employee’s professional ethics under employment law, but also violates civil and even criminal laws. Trade secrets are certain information that needs protection. Two conditions must be met to determine that the employee’s behavior constitutes infringement ofRead more about 138.How do employers protect their trade secrets?[…]

Answer: Non-competition is a restriction stipulated by an employer, prohibiting its employees from engaging in specific competitive work (including by self-employment or employment) either during or after their employment. The employee’s access to the employer’s trade secrets is the first prerequisite for both parties to agree upon that the employee undertakes the obligation of non-competition.Read more about 139.What is the difference between trade secrets and non-competition?[…]

Answer: Trade secrets are essentially intellectual property information generated by the right holder’s investment of money, manpower, material resources, knowledge, experience, and time, including licensee’ payment for use. Therefore, the law protects the right holder’s interests in trade secrets. Ordinary information are not protected by law. The Anti-Unfair Competition Law provides that “Trade secrets referRead more about 140.What kind of information is a trade secret?[…]

Answer: According to “What kind of information is a trade secret?”, if the right holder of trade secret wants to stop the infringement or pursue the tortfeasor, they must prove the establishment of trade secret, which has three conditions: the relevant information is non-public information, the information has commercial value, and the right holder hasRead more about 141.How does the right holder prove the existence of trade secrets?[…]

Answer: Non-publicity of trade secrets is the prerequisite of existence of trade secrets and accountability for infringement. This answer article makes an in-depth analysis of the current flawed laws and cases in China, aiming to find out a reasonable judicial rule to determine who is responsible for proving, and how to prove, the non-publicity ofRead more about 142.How to prove the non-publicity of trade secrets?[…]

Answer: In practice, information that may be trade secrets includes: technical information such as structure, raw materials, components, formulas, materials, samples, patterns, propagation materials of new plant varieties, processes, methods or steps, algorithms, data, computer programs, and related documents, and business information such as management, sales, finance, planning, samples, bidding materials, customer information (including customerRead more about 143.What are the common trade secret information in practice?[…]