Özet:

The purpose of this study is to clarify the concepts of "know-how" and "trade secrets," as these constitute a category under the larger subject of industrial property rights. Certain technical or administrative information that has acquired economics value for the business establishment where it has been developed as a result of individual or group initiative and experience, may be designated as "know- how" or "trade secret." A business may consider the other legal tools that may be appropriate for protecting its proprietary information, such as copyrights for written materials and software , patents for technical processes and inventions, and trademarks for the unique names of a business' services or products. Trade secrets may protect inventions which do not meet the requirements needed in a patent or may be used when the owner of the undisclosed informationdoes not wish to reveal the invention upon filing with the Patent Office. One disadvantage of the trade secret protection is that the information may be unlawfully acquired by stealing or other parties may develop the same idea on their own. To prevent disclosure of know-how or trade secrets by employees or persons providing services, businesses utilize confidentiality agreements. A sample of confidentiality agreement is provided as an annex to the present study. 

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