Study On The Application Of Punitive Damages For Trade Secret Infringement

Trade secret is a kind of information with capital value only when it is not disclosed.It is not only an inexhaustible driving force to promote the development and growth of enterprises,but also the competitiveness between countries.Because trade secrets have the characteristics of weak exclusivity,once infringed,not only the existing interests but also the future interests will be damaged.The punitive compensation system of trade secret infringement can effectively solve this problem.After the Second Amendment in 19 years,the law of“Anti-unfair competition” introduced punitive damages in the infringement of trade secrets,but the provisions are too abstract,and there are many problems in the application of judicial practice.By combing and analyzing the existing legislative norms and judicial practice,this paper believes that the judicial practice of the punitive compensation system of trade secret infringement has the following problems: The standard of subjective and objective conditions is too general and fuzzy,the calculation method of base and how to clarify the multiple have not clarified the standard of judgment,the generalization of statutory compensation leads to the vacancy of punitive compensation system,and the unclear standard of proof and burden of proof and so on.The application dilemma of the punitive compensation system of trade secret infringement in judicial practice originates from the abstractness of the current legal norm.The key to solve this problem lies in the refinement and standardization of the current law,including the refinement of the constitutive elements of the entity,the standardization of the loss calculation,and the clarification of the applicable scope of punitive damages.At the same time,the effective linkage of substantive and procedural law is also an unavoidable prerequisite for breaking the dilemma of the application of the criminal compensation system in the event of infringement of trade secrets and implementing the organic correspondence between the burden of proof in substantive law and the standard of proof in procedural law.Based on this,this paper holds that: firstly,on the constitutive elements of entity,we should refine the elements of constitutive elements,especially the criteria of subjective malice and serious circumstances;Secondly,in terms of loss calculation,the relevant factors and scope of consideration should be clearly defined to form a standardized calculation method.Thirdly,the determination of compensation multiple should be adapted to the specific circumstances of the case to avoid the generalization of statutory compensation.At last,in the connection between substantive law and procedural law,the direct and accurate compensation proof standard should be clarified and the evidence discovery system should be established.