Kwartalnik Krajowej Szkoły Sądownictwa i Prokuratury * 2019* tom 34* zeszyt 2* s. 93-110* ISSN 2083-7186

Znamię poważnej szkody wyrządzonej przestępstwem naruszenia tajemnicy przedsiębiorstwa z art. 23 ustawy o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji
Significant damage as a result of trade secret violation, as outlined in Article 23 of the Act on Combating Unfair Competition

Mgr Agnieszka Poralla - doktorantka na Wydziale Prawa, Administracji i Stosunków Międzynarodowych Krakowskiej Akademii im. A. Frycza Modrzewskiego, adwokat w Okręgowej Izbie Adwokackiej w Krakowie

Data publikacji: 2019-06-30

URL: https://www.kssip.gov.pl/pobierz_plik/2019-2_34_-_znamie.pdf.pdf

SUMMARY:

The article discusses the defining features of “significant damage” sustained as a result of a trade secret violation, as outlined in Article 23 of the Act on Combating Unfair Competition. In the absence of a clear definition, the issue of “significant damage” has given rise to doubts in judicial literature and court decisions. The article brings together the existing perspectives and presents an original position on the nature of significant damage. Even though the Penal Code provides for relevant protection measures, the legislator has decided that not all trade secret violations should be treated as a criminal offence. Literature on the subject suggests that criminal law provisions should be treated as complementary to civil law protection measures and only applied to conduct representing the most serious threat to fair competition. For this reason, it is essential that penal sanctions are applied only when the entrepreneur has sustained serious damage, provided that the subject matter giving rise to specific sanctions may be identified. Owing to the lack of a clear normative definition, the understanding of significant damage is one of the thorniest issues in this respect. Therefore, the article addresses the concept of damage, the interpretation of which has been a matter of dispute in judicial literature and court decisions.

Key words: combating unfair competition, trade secret, criminal liability for the act of unfair competition

Bibliographic Citation:

PORALLA, A. Znamię poważnej szkody wyrządzonej przestępstwem naruszenia tajemnicy przedsiębiorstwa z art. 23 ustawy o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji, Kwartalnik Krajowej Szkoły Sądownictwa i Prokuratury. 2019, t. 34, z. 2, s. 93-110. ISSN 2083-7186.