Trade secrets – today and in the future

On 3 March 2000 ‘Trade secrets – today and in the future’ (Affärshemligheter i samtid och framtid) was defended at Stockholm University.1 Looking back from today, it was at its core a view on a new, digital reality. The provisional title of the project was “Trade Secrets in a New Technological Reality”2, which was inspired by the dawn of the internet era, by the talk of information super- highways.3 It intended to answer the main question back in the days: What would the information superhighway mean for the protection of trade secrets?4 In general, such kinds of questions can be approached through very different methodological approaches. For example, historical studies of law often only consider how something was regulated or handled within a specific timeframe. However, the aim of this part of the study was to examine the developments and needs that led to the development of protection for trade secrets. The next step was to consider how the new technical reality of digitalisation calls for legislative changes. Comparative studies between legislation in different jurisdictions are often limited to two or three jurisdictions. This study took a broader approach, conducting a comparative study that covered French, Dutch, German and Swedish law. Such a broad approach was adopted in the belief that it would contribute to a greater understanding of the topic.5 My ultimate decision was to approach it through a comparative study in terms of both time and place. Today, the Trade-Secret Directive, adopted in 2016, totally changed the legislation in the Member States.6 In hindsight, this does affect the potential impact of the thesis.