TY  - GEN
N2  - Industrial competition has become fierce. In order to win it, each enterprise tries to do its best. Enterprises invest considerable sums in obtaining and developing valuable business information. Some enterprises try to keep their business information secret, in order to gain advantage. Legal protection of business information is now considered more important by society, as there are those who would take unfair advantage in competition by obtaining business information improperly. Because of this, many countries particularly in the last decade, have tried and are trying to improve their legal protection of the sort of business information called trade secrets. Japan seems to have two problems in connection with the legal protection of trade secrets. One is the lack of criminal sanctions against the abuse of trade secrets. The other is the disclosure of trade secrets in public during trials. The purpose of this thesis is to consider whether new legal methods are needed in order to improve the protection of trade secrets in Japan. Regarding the first problem, I consider whether or not it is necessary for Japan to provide criminal sanctions against the abuse of trade secrets, comparing Japanese law with English law (where no such sanctions are provided) and German law (where criminal sanctions are provided under the Act on Prevention of Unfair Competition). Given that this is necessary, I then discuss whether or not it is possible for Japan to fit criminal sanctions within the scope of its current legal framework. Concerning the second problem, Article 82 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees the so-called open court policy, which applies to trade-secret-related trials, and therefore trade secrets must be publicly disclosed in the course of trials. However, once trade secrets are disclosed, they can not be legally protected. Once again comparing Japanese law to English and German law, I consider how the Japanese legal system might be reformed to alleviate this problem.
AB  - Industrial competition has become fierce. In order to win it, each enterprise tries to do its best. Enterprises invest considerable sums in obtaining and developing valuable business information. Some enterprises try to keep their business information secret, in order to gain advantage. Legal protection of business information is now considered more important by society, as there are those who would take unfair advantage in competition by obtaining business information improperly. Because of this, many countries particularly in the last decade, have tried and are trying to improve their legal protection of the sort of business information called trade secrets. Japan seems to have two problems in connection with the legal protection of trade secrets. One is the lack of criminal sanctions against the abuse of trade secrets. The other is the disclosure of trade secrets in public during trials. The purpose of this thesis is to consider whether new legal methods are needed in order to improve the protection of trade secrets in Japan. Regarding the first problem, I consider whether or not it is necessary for Japan to provide criminal sanctions against the abuse of trade secrets, comparing Japanese law with English law (where no such sanctions are provided) and German law (where criminal sanctions are provided under the Act on Prevention of Unfair Competition). Given that this is necessary, I then discuss whether or not it is possible for Japan to fit criminal sanctions within the scope of its current legal framework. Concerning the second problem, Article 82 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees the so-called open court policy, which applies to trade-secret-related trials, and therefore trade secrets must be publicly disclosed in the course of trials. However, once trade secrets are disclosed, they can not be legally protected. Once again comparing Japanese law to English and German law, I consider how the Japanese legal system might be reformed to alleviate this problem.
T1  - The legal protection of trade secrets in Japan :a comparative study of English and German law.
AU  - Soga, Kazumasa.
LA  - eng
ID  - 48266
KW  - Trade secrets
KW  - Law
KW  - Economic development projects
SN  - 9784792331801
TI  - The legal protection of trade secrets in Japan :a comparative study of English and German law.
ER  -