LE MISURE ADEGUATE A MANTENERE IL SEGRETO SECONDO L’ART. 98, PRIMO COMMA, LETT. C), DEL CODICE DELLA PROPRIETÀ INDUSTRIALE

The essay explores the third requirement of trade secrets according to art. 98, letter c), of the Italian Industrial Property Code, namely the adoption, by the trade secret holder, of reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy. The essay first investigates the ratio of this requirement and proposes the interpretation that it has three functions: identification of the information to be protected as secret, establishment and maintenance of the right on it and, finally, creation of the sphere of confidentiality constituting the object of protection. The es-say then goes into the meaning of the requirement and proposes the interpretation that it is satisfied where the trade secret holder adopts three types of measures: the rigorous selec-tion of the persons authorized to access the secret, the adoption of measures to avoid that the secret is infringed by persons not authorized to know it, and finally the adoption of measures to avoid that the secret is infringed by persons who have been authorized to know it.