Ministry of Law: Trade Secret Mechanism as an Alternative for Protecting Innovation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Law has stated that the trade secret mechanism is one of the options for intellectual property protection for business actors who wish to safeguard their business innovations without having to publicise that information.
The Director General of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Law, Hermansyah Siregar, explained that this mechanism is relevant for business actors who possess formulas, production methods, or business strategies that have economic value.
“Trade secret protection in Indonesia is regulated under Law No. 30 of 2000 on Trade Secrets,” said Hermansyah in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He revealed that this intellectual property regime consists of information not known to the public in the field of technology and/or business, which has economic value because it is useful in business activities, and is kept confidential by its owner.
The regulation provides legal certainty for business owners to protect confidential business information that has economic value.
Hermansyah explained that not all innovations must be protected through patents. In some cases, trade secrets are a more appropriate choice for business actors.
“If an innovation is safer to keep confidential, then trade secrets can become an effective alternative for protection,” he said.
Moreover, he added, this mechanism allows business actors to maintain competitive advantages without having to disclose important information to the public.
According to him, protection through trade secrets will remain in effect as long as the information is not known to the public and its confidentiality is maintained by the owner.
However, the Directorate General of Intellectual Property provides protection through the recording of trade secret licences.
Thus, as long as the information has economic value and its confidentiality is maintained, trade secret protection remains attached to the owner.
“Therefore, it is important for business actors to ensure that the management of business information is carried out properly,” he said.
Such assets can include food recipes, product formulas, production methods, and even marketing strategies.
For this reason, he emphasised that understanding trade secrets is important so that business actors can protect their innovations and business knowledge.
It was stated that with the right protection, these innovations can continue to provide economic value to the businesses they run.
The Directorate General of Intellectual Property continues to promote increased literacy among the public regarding various forms of intellectual property protection.
Through this understanding, business actors are expected to be able to choose the protection mechanism that best suits the nature of their innovations. For more information on intellectual property, the public can visit dgip.go.id.