Business checklist

Protect trade secrets effectively

Review whether confidential information is clearly identified, selectively accessible and protected through measures that can be demonstrated in practice.

Under section 26b of the Austrian UWG, a trade secret requires more than secret information that has commercial value. Its holder must also have taken reasonable steps to keep it secret in the circumstances. What is reasonable therefore depends on the information, its value, the people who need access and the way the business actually operates.

This checklist focuses on organisational and contractual safeguards. A confidentiality agreement may be important, but it does not replace a coherent protection system. Rules, access controls and responses must work together in practice and be capable of later verification.

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Why measures must work in practice

Section 26b UWG looks for measures that are reasonable in the particular circumstances. There is no rigid standard package. The more valuable and easily transferable the information, the more likely it is that tiered access, clear contractual rules and traceable documentation will be needed.

Even with a sound protection system, later use or disclosure is not automatically unlawful. The information, the way it was acquired, the conduct and the statutory limits must be assessed. This checklist supports prevention and documentation. It does not predetermine a legal outcome.

This checklist provides general guidance. It guarantees neither that information qualifies as a trade secret nor that a claim will succeed. The appropriate measures and the available rights must be assessed from the particular information, the actual processes and the evidence.