Employees, Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants in Japan

Employees, Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants in Japan
Takuya Iizuka

ISBN 978-90-411-8379-8
Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

Restrictions on disclosure and unauthorised use of trade secrets by employees are governed by the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (UCA) and secrecy obligation clauses set out in individual contracts of employment between employees and employers. The restrictions under the UCA are comparatively broad in that the Act does not require the existence of a contractual relationship between the employer and the employee. For a cause of action, the information in question must qualify as a “trade secret”, that has either been unlawfully obtained, and/or is subsequently used in a manner contrary to honest practices as stipulated by the UCA. The courts are reluctant to apply the UCA to types of infringement not speciically described by the UCA because a lexible application of the Act on a case-by-case basis is dificult.