CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Mitchell Liu Minxuan and Sarah Lu Shijiao, AllBright Law Offices
crosscheck interviews are carried out to avoid produc - ing system documents that cannot be implemented. A “bottom-up” system implementing method is also intuitively proposed, starting by solving the practical operational difficulties of front-line business personnel to promote the effective implementation of the trade secret system. Furthermore, through a “five-dimen - sional” inspection standard, comprehensive checks are performed on the trade secret system to ensure there are no protection loopholes. At project execution level, the team adopts methods of departmental task breakdown and scheduling, clarifying the responsible entities and completion deadlines for each depart - ment, so that orderly implementation of various pro - tection measures can be ensured. Additionally, the team’s previously innovated “scenario-based method” continues to evolve. Refined systematic documents are reformulated for specific business scenarios such as R&D and procurement and extensively communi - cation is carried out with business departments to ensure the systematic documents highly match actual operations. The Connection and Synergy Between Non- Compete Agreements and Trade Secret Cases Non-compete agreements serve as one of the impor - tant ways for employers to protect trade secrets. In judicial practice, on the one hand, employees delib - erately circumvent non-compete obligations through methods such as name leasing and nominee arrange - ments, while, on the other hand, employers bear a high burden of proof regarding the former employees working for competing entities, thus facing multiple challenges in practice.
Confirming that employees have provided services to competing entities through outsourcing arrange - ments can often provide sufficient evidence regarding breach of non-compete agreement. Combined with the employee’s status and accessibility to core trade secrets, high liquidated damages can be secured for a client, fully safeguarding an enterprise’s trade secret rights and interests. From the perspective of front- end construction of corporate non-compete systems, enterprises can be supported in clearly defining the boundaries of obligations in non-compete agree - ments, including incorporating circumvention meth - ods into prohibited scope and specifying details of an employee’s reporting obligations after departure. It is also recommended that comprehensive offboarding procedures for high-risk personnel be established and that technical audit measures be employed to assess risks. Through these arrangements, risks can be miti - gated to a certain extent, achieving pre-emptive pre - vention and control. Conclusion Some profound changes were observed in the field of trade secret protection practice in China in 2025, with strengthened judicial protection guidelines and hard issues seen in practice, and companies provided with services aimed at supporting them in major chal - lenges represented in this area.
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