POLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Szymon Gogulski, Marek Oleksyn and Maciej Gil, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
logical know-how) that were created or developed by its personnel. This, in turn, underscores the critical importance of properly drafted agreements with personnel who cre - ate or develop information protected as trade secrets – both in terms of the employer’s effective acquisition of rights to such secrets and the obligations of per - sonnel to maintain confidentiality and, within the limits provided by law, to refrain from competitive activity. AI – New Challenges in Protecting Trade Secrets In the era of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, protecting trade secrets presents new challenges. Although AI tools provide significant operational advantages, they introduce potential risks of unin - tentional disclosure of trade secrets, especially when personnel use freely available AI tools without prop - er safeguards (so-called “shadow AI”). Additionally, insufficient safeguards may call into question whether the entrepreneur exercised due diligence in protect - ing its confidential information, potentially disqualify - ing such information from being legally recognised as a trade secret under the UCL. To mitigate these risks, companies should establish internal policies governing the use of AI tools in the workplace. In particular: • employees should receive adequate training on the legal and operational implications of using AI tools, particularly regarding data confidentiality; • all identified incidents involving potential disclo - sure of confidential information should be promptly reported and addressed; • employees should only use internally approved tools; and • in contracts with AI solution providers, companies should ensure that both the input (prompt) and the output generated by such tools remain confidential and are not used by the provider to train AI models or for any other unintended purposes.
The appropriate protective measures may vary depending on the confidentiality level of the informa - tion concerned. Legislative Plans to Strengthen Trade Secret Protection While trade secrets are protected in Poland substan - tially under the UCL, the key legal act governing most industrial property rights in Poland is the Industrial Property Law Act dated 30 June 2000 (IPL). The IPL has been amended more than 20 times since its adop - tion in 2000, and the number of amendments has not had a positive impact on its readability. To ensure a modern and accessible legal environment for the pro - tection of inventions, utility models, industrial designs and trade marks, a draft of an entirely new industrial property law has been prepared. Work on this draft was suspended, but discussions regarding its form have recently resumed. One of the key solutions proposed in the draft of the new IPL is a new legal tool aimed at more effective trade secret protection. This tool takes the form of a repository dedicated to technical and technological information (know-how) constituting a trade secret within the meaning of the UCL. The repository is to be maintained by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (PPO), and its use will be voluntary for owners of technical or technological know-how. The proposed legal instrument aims to increase the effectiveness of trade secret protection by allowing rights-holders to objectively document and demonstrate, if needed (eg, in the case of an infringement or for transaction pur - poses), both the existence and the content and scope of their technical or technological know-how. The PPO will maintain the repository but will not examine the deposited information in terms of its content, nor ver - ify the applicant’s rights to the information contained therein.
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