Studio Turini’s offer to protect confidentiality Home > Lawyers > Extrajudicial Assistance > Know how protection Innovation and trade secrets: when keeping confidentiality means doing business well What does it mean to innovate in business? Of course, nowadays, the results of R&D carried out through creative and innovative intellectual activities related to the development of industrial products and services are of crucial importance and must be adequately protected. Trade secrets must be protected in the same way as patents and other IP and IT assets because they are essential for the competitiveness of a company. Looking beyond the short term, they are also often very important for the survival of the company itself in the market. At Studio Turini, we add value and protect companies’ innovative achievements and assist Clients in protecting their know-how and valorizing their trade secrets. Request a consultation What is know-how? The term know-how refers to all knowledge that has been acquired or improved during the professional practice of an activity and companies generally want to keep it confidential. Know-how is thus the sum of all trade secrets of a company and includes both technical information (i.e. working procedures, industrial diagrams, technical drawings, etc.) and information of a commercial nature. In the Italian legal system, trade secrets are expressly protected by Article 98 of the Industrial Property Code, which defines them as business information and technical-industrial experience, including trade experience, subject to the legitimate control of the holder, if it is confidential, has economic value as secret and it is subject to measures that are reasonably adequate to keep them confidential. The trade secret to be protected must therefore: Be secret: the information must be difficult to know and not generally known or easily accessible to experts and sector operators; Have an economic value: the information must have an economic value because it is subject to confidentiality constraints so that the company that owns it is in a privileged position compared to competitors that do not dispose of the same information; Be subject to reasonably adequate measures to keep the information confidential. The trade secret may be protected and defended in Court against possible abuses or unauthorized disclosures, may be included in the company balance sheet and may be transferred or licensed. However, in order to effectively protect the know-how and to be able to dispose of it, it must be kept confidential. This is possible thanks to a series of procedures and activities that can identify what the trade secret consists of and demonstrate that it is indeed kept confidential. WE PROTECT AND GIVE VALUE TO THE RESULTS OF OUR CUSTOMERS’ INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES The confidentiality method of Studio Turini Our assistance begins with an assessment of the know-how protection requirements under the current legislation. Successively we identify the most suitable protection strategy, in relation to the nature of the company’s assets and the security opportunities for its protection. At Studio Turini we have prepared a know-how confidentiality method thanks to which we are able to identify and crystallize the company’s trade secrets. In this way, at the end of the identification process, the company is stronger and has an additional tool to avoid unauthorized disclosures or industrial espionage activities. After an analysis that can also include on-site inspections and targeted meetings, we are able to prepare the most suitable tools for the effective protection of the company’s know-how. This is a result of a tailored analysis of the particularities of each market context and each company’s production activity. Our method includes some preliminary steps, such as: Identification of the information and resources that the company has an interest in protecting as a trade secret; Description and classification of information and documents; Definition of the tools and security measures, both physical and legal, that best suit the individual business situation. Industrial secret: management and processing of confidential information In order to effectively protect trade secrets, it is also essential that the access to confidential information, both by in-house staff and by external collaborators and parties (such as suppliers, strategic partners or potential customers), is precisely regulated. For this reason, our confidentiality method includes the drafting of all necessary agreements in order to bind to confidentiality anyone who becomes aware of confidential information, providing the most appropriate mechanisms to discourage any form of unauthorized disclosure of such information. In addition to assisting Clients in confidentiality procedures, we are able to manage all operations involving know-how. In particular, we prepare: Know-how assignment and licensing contracts; Mixed patent and know-how assignment contracts; Specific confidentiality agreements and covenants in relation to each role within the corporate structure; Non-competition agreements for employees and collaborators of the company. We also offer legal assistance, both in ordinary and urgent proceedings, in case of illicit acquisition, use and disclosure of know-how and in all cases concerning trade secrets. 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