What is protected as a trade secret?
Business information that is not generally known, that the holder has taken reasonable steps to keep secret, and whose disclosure is likely to cause competitive harm.
What the source says
- Section 2 of the Trade Secrets Act: three requirements, not generally known, reasonable secrecy measures and risk of harm.
- The act does not protect information on crime or serious misconduct.
- Liability may follow both during and after employment for intentional misuse.
Source rows
- Trade Secrets Act (SFS 2018:558)SFS 2018:558 · General courts and the Labour Court · Read 2026-08-20 · Content hash cf40cdc8df2118f4Official source
- Act (2021:890) on protection for persons reporting wrongdoingSFS 2021:890 · Work Environment Authority and designated competent authorities · Read 2026-08-20 · Content hash e391f33d326c7014Official source
For the employer · How the employer puts the question
Reasonable measures mean labelling, access control and agreements, without them the protection fails.
For the employee · How the employee puts the question
Protection yields to reporting of serious misconduct, that route runs through the whistleblowing act.
Next step
Read trade secrets together with the non-compete clause, they are often tested in the same dispute.
The rows reproduce what the source says. They are not legal advice, and applying them to a specific case is the reader's or their counsel's decision.
/arbetsratt/fragor/vad-skyddas-som-foretagshemlighet
Neste steg
Tre veier inn hvis dere vil bruke registeret i eget arbeid.
Start med oppgaven din
Advokat, tvist
Finn støtte i en avgjørelse
Søk i veiledende dommer, se hva som er rettskraftig og følg endringer i rettstilstanden.
Internadvokat, transaksjon
Kartlegg regelverket i handelen
Gå fra tema til rettsakt og videre til artikkelen som bærer plikten.
Etterlevelse
Vurder risikoen i en behandling
Risikoklassifisering per rettsområde, med kildene bak hvert poeng.