[Article / Unfair Competition Law] Interpreting “has been shown the trade secret” in Article 2(1)(vii) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (Yusuke Yoshihara, Patent, May 2025)
更新日：10月15日
Article information
Article type: Publication review
Categories: Unfair competition law
Main topics: Trade secrets
First published on this website: October 1, 2026
Display and classification checked: October 1, 2026 (not a revalidation of the legal analysis)
[Article / Unfair Competition Law] Interpreting “has been shown the trade secret” in Article 2(1)(vii) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (Yusuke Yoshihara, Patent, May 2025)
A conditional Theory C (expansion of the secrecy-management theory) is proposed.
[English translation of the quotation]
“The requirement of having been shown the trade secret should also be construed as satisfied where employees could clearly recognize that know-how they developed themselves or customer information they collected themselves could become trade secrets in the future.”
<Points of application>
Already-managed information: If already managed as secret, it is deemed to have been shown under conventional Theory C.
Unreported information: Even before reporting to the company (i.e. before secrecy management begins), the secrecy-management requirement is deemed satisfied if, in light of training, work rules, past practices, etc., the employee could clearly recognize that the information would become a trade secret in the future.
<Justification and significance>
Protecting business contributions: Employees' results arise under the employer's investment in facilities and payment of salaries. Denying protection merely because they have not been reported is unfair.
Preventing surprise and preserving occupational choice: Requiring clear recognition makes it predictable for employees what they may take away, without unjustly obstructing freedom to change jobs.
Consistency with statutory purpose: In light of the Act's aim of securing fair competition, this deters malicious removal of unreported information.
<Considerations for future litigation>
In practice, removal of unreported information is hard to detect, but discovery through customer communications (trade-secret categories ① and ②) or analysis of a departing employee's PC (technical trade secrets) is foreseeable. As job mobility increases, this clear recognition will become an important subject of practical investigation.
Original article: https://lnkd.in/gJxjvHvG
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October 1, 2026: First publication of the author's original LinkedIn text on this website. Article type, categories, topic tags, sources and consultation navigation added.
2026-10-01 | Display maintenance: added case references stated in the original or language-alternate metadata; not a revalidation of legal analysis.
2026-10-01 | Name notation: replaced verified Japanese-script personal names with Roman-letter forms in this English article and its navigation. Legal analysis and original publication date unchanged.
2026-10-01 | Name notation: applied the Roman-letter personal-name spellings supplied by Hideki Takaishi to this English article and its navigation. No change to legal analysis or original publication date.
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