Case brief:

In September 2020, Nike Commercial (China) Co Ltd referred a complaint to the Yangpu district branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. Nike alleged that since September 2019, it had discovered that a WeChat mini program had illegally disclosed its business information such as product prices and inventory details – which it had included in a non-disclosure agreement and in other measures to keep them confidential.

On Dec 23 of that year, police subsequently arrested the defendant Cai Ping. According to the investigation, in 2018 the defendant obtained the information with full knowledge that the information provider had obtained the information by improper means or violated the obligee's requirement to keep the business secrets. The defendant then set up a WeChat mini program based on the information and received membership fees. Cai Ping's illegal gains from using the trade secrets was estimated to have amounted to more than 900,000 yuan ($136,126).

In July 2021, the Yangpu district people's court sentenced Cai Ping to eight months in prison and fined him 960,000 yuan for violating trade secrets.

Significance:

Trade secret protection is an important part of the intellectual property legal system and is an important weapon in market competition. It not only involves civil and commercial liability, but also relates to criminal liability in many cases. The case is of great significance in optimizing China's business environment in the digital era.