Trade Secrets as a Resource for Value Creation. A study investigating the impact of the EU directive (2016/943) on companies’ value creation
Ladda ner
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Entrepreneurship and business design (MPBDP), MSc
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Haldén, Cecilia
Eriksson, Andrea
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Businesses have in the recent years been experiencing an increased dependency on
knowledge, which is becoming the most important and valuable asset in companies, who are
in need of protecting it in order to exploit it successfully. The EU directive (2016/943) was
proposed in 2016 with an implementation deadline in 2018, and aimed to harmonize the trade
secret laws across Europe, which varied greatly among countries and created obstacles for
companies. This study aims to investigate how the new EU directive (2016/943) on trade
secrets has affected European companies and their trade secret management and the value
creation thereof. The focus is on companies operating within the EU, but in regards of court
cases, the study is primarily focused on Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and the UK due to
language barriers. The UK is included despite Brexit since the trade secret legislation is the
same. The study uses an inductive and qualitative approach with few quantitative elements
where interviews and court cases represent a primary source of data and literature a
secondary source of data. The interviews are semi-structured and are conducted with
companies, lawyers and professors in order to get insights from different perspectives. Court
cases are analysed in a comparative manner where different quantitative variables are
explored in regards to different points in time, e.i. before and after the implementation of the
EU directive (2016/943). The results show that the EU directive has had an impact on
companies and their trade secret management in terms of strengthened trade secret protection,
improved measures to enforce trade secrets, making it easier to obtain damages, improved
possibilities for collaborations across borders for example. The improved trade secret
management has made companies more successful in legal disputes as well as the proactive
work prevents them from getting into disputes. There is a higher awareness of trade secrets
and companies are more willing to have trade secret protection prior to other IPR. The
increased awareness and motivation to use trade secrets as a result of the EU directive
(2016/943) however, can be discussed. To conclude, the EU directive (2016/943) has had a
positive impact on companies and their trade secret management and prompted them to
manage trade secrets correctly, which results in a better ability to create value. The results are
valuable insights for companies, lawyers, researchers and other professionals.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Trade Secrets, Trade Secret management, Value creation, The EU directive (2016/943) on trade secrets.