At the '2024 China Software High-Quality Development Conference', hosted by the China Software Industry Association and the Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the 'Software Company Trade Secret Protection Guide V1.0' was officially launched.
As the software industry becomes increasingly vital to China's economy, protecting trade secrets is crucial for enhancing competitiveness. The Guide was compiled by the Intellectual Property Protection Branch of the China Software Industry Association, with input from Llinks partner Ms. Cherri Che, which aims to guide software enterprises in building a comprehensive system for protecting trade secrets and effectively defending against infringement, thereby promoting technological innovation and efficient transformation of achievements, with far-reaching and significant implications.
The Guide offers a comprehensive strategy for identifying, classifying, and safeguarding trade secrets, as well as responding to potential infringements. It addresses key areas such as access control, personnel management, contract administration, and evidence preservation, providing actionable advice to mitigate common industry risks. Its publication serves as an invaluable resource for the software industry, driving high-quality development and innovation in China's tech sector. With its widespread adoption, the Guide is set to elevate trade secret protection standards, bolstering the nation's progress towards becoming an innovative leader.
Contributing Author
Cherri Che, Llinks Partner
Ms. Cherri Che has a professional background in science and engineering and is qualified as a patent attorney. Prior to practicing law, she accumulated 11 years of experience in technology research and development. Since being admitted to the bar in 2010, she has specialised in intellectual property law, serving as a legal advisor to numerous technology start-ups. She excels at providing intellectual property protection advice tailored to businesses and has represented several well-known domestic and international companies in intellectual property cases. Her litigation cases have been featured in the Supreme People's Court's 'Annual Report on the Application of Law in Intellectual Property Cases 2023', and her patent technology transformation cases were selected by the All-China Patent Agents Association as one of the 'Top 10 Typical Cases of Patent Agency Institutions Promoting Patent Transformation and Application'. The intellectual property litigation cases she has handled have been included in 'Shenzhen Lawyers' Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases' for several consecutive years.
Ms. Cherri Che particularly excels in handling patent cases and trade secret cases related to technology, providing clients in the medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, intelligent manufacturing, and artificial intelligence sectors with a one-stop legal service covering IP mining, layout, operation, and rights protection. In terms of patents, she specialises in patent mining and layout for companies, freedom-to-operate (FTO) searches and analyses, and patent litigation. In the area of trade secret protection, she is adept at constructing trade secret protection systems for businesses and has accumulated extensive experience in handling civil and criminal trade secret cases.
In her current roles, Ms. Che serves on the Intellectual Property Law Committee of the All-China Lawyers Association and is an expert in the 'Legal Daily' lawyer expert database. She is also the deputy director of the Patent Law Committee of the Guangdong Lawyers Association, the director of the Trade Secret Law Committee of the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, and an expert in both the Shenzhen Intellectual Property and Guangming District Trade Secret Protection expert databases. Cherri was honoured as an Outstanding Female Lawyer of the Year 2023 and was recognized by Legal Vision as the 'Leading Lawyers' in the field of intellectual property in 2023.
