On the protection of information and skill advantage in business

An advantageous position in the economic compe­tition is determined by the advantage in a competitor's knowledge and skills that she is able to gain and keep over the other competitors. Such an advantage can be gained both by creative and parasitic activities. A large number of factual and legal means are applied against the parasitic activities. The legal means can be further divided into the public law means and the private law means, in particular the contract law and the law de­aling with unfair competitíon. In this context, trade secret protection is a special competitive means. The definítion of trade secret both within the law and in the economic practice is a very difficult issue. Dealing with this issue, the author is in favour of a certain overlapping of the theory of will and the theory of in­ terest. The businessperson's will can be displayed also by the following clause incorporated into a company's directives: "The term of trade secret refers to all facts that the employees have to, given their qualifications and job titles, suppose that the employer has an objec­tive interest to keep secret."