LUXEMBOURG Law and Practice Contributed by: Romain Tiffon and Marie Bentley, ATOZ Tax Advisers
creation, enabling them to control its use and exploita - tion by third parties. Although registration is not required, it is advisable to retain evidence establishing the date of creation of the work. Such evidence may be provided by any appropriate means, including an i-DEPOT registration with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, the deposit of a copy of the work with a notary or finan - cial institution, or other reliable methods capable of demonstrating the existence of the work at a speci - fied date. The copyright holder enjoys exclusive rights
These remedies are intended both to compensate rights-holders and to deter unlawful exploitation of protected works. 7.5 Others Trade Secrets Trade secrets benefit from specific legal protection under the Luxembourg Act of 26 June 2019 on the protection of trade secrets, which implements the EU Trade Secrets Directive. This regime is particularly rel - evant for commercially valuable information that does not qualify for intellectual property protection or that a business prefers to keep confidential rather than register. Protection arises automatically and does not require registration, provided that the information: • is not generally known or readily accessible to per - sons operating in the relevant sector; • has commercial value because of its confidential nature; and • is subject to reasonable measures by the lawful holder to preserve its secrecy. Protected information may include:
over the work, including the following: • to authorise or prohibit its reproduction; • communication to the public; • distribution; and • modification.
These rights enable the author to control the use of the work and to prevent unauthorised exploitation by third parties. Copyright protection subsists for the lifetime of the author and for 70 years following the author’s death. Upon the author’s death, the rights pass to their heirs or other successors in title. Copyright may also be transferred or licensed, in whole or in part, to third parties. Enforcement and Remedies Copyright holders may bring civil proceedings to enforce their rights against unauthorised use of their works. In addition to civil remedies, Luxembourg law provides for criminal sanctions where copyright infringement is committed in the course of trade with malicious or fraudulent intent. Unauthorised reproduc - tion or distribution of protected works may constitute the criminal offence of counterfeiting and may result in: • fines of up to EUR250,000; • confiscation or destruction of counterfeit goods; and • in cases of repeated infringement, imprisonment for up to two years.
• technical know-how; • business processes; • customer lists; • strategies; • formulas; and • other confidential business information.
Trade secret protection is not limited in time and may continue indefinitely, provided that the information remains confidential and retains its secret character. However, claims relating to unlawful acquisition, use or disclosure must generally be brought within two years of discovery of the infringement. No registration, filing or other formality is required to obtain trade secret protection. Protection arises auto - matically once the statutory conditions for secrecy, commercial value and reasonable protective meas - ures are met.
619 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook