Achieving Strategic Advantages through Protecting Trade Secrets

The concepts of intangible assets, intellectual property, and intellectual capital will first be introduced, and how a company may achieve a strategic advantage by dynamically transforming intangible assets into intellectual property (IP, such as trade secrets, patents, copyrights, trademarks) and further into intellectual capital will be explained, whereas the critical role played by trade secrets in this transformation will be highlighted. Then, the legal regime of trade secrets protection in Taiwan will be introduced and compared with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) and The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) in the United States. Finally, strategies for protecting trade secrets for multinational companies in Taiwan will be suggested, whereas protections provided by civil law, criminal law, corporate procedures, and information security policies will be particularly addressed. By adapting these protections, a company may achieve a more efficient allocation of intellectual property resources, thereby achieving a sustainable strategic advantage.