Nanjing Court's First Case of Protecting Unpublished Game Content as Trade Secret

TapTechNews June 22nd, according to the report of 'Jiangsu News', recently the People's Court of Qinhuai District, Nanjing released a case: Chen, a post-2000s game player in Nanjing, was identified as infringing for disclosing unauthorizedly the test content of a new version of a well-known game in which he participated in the experience .

TapTechNews learned that this is the first case in China to recognize unpublished game characters, scenes, actions and related combinations as trade secrets and protect them.

In July 2023, the game operator found that Chen unauthorizedly posted the test video of the unannounced new version of the game on the Internet and caused widespread dissemination. So, the game operator sued him on the grounds of侵犯商业秘密.

Chen believed that he initially signed the 'Commissioned Test Service Agreement' and the 'Confidentiality Agreement' with the game developer, and there was no connection with the game operator, so the game operator had no right to claim rights against him.

The court believed that although this company is not the main body of the game's development and design, it has obtained the authorization and license of affiliated enterprises and is the main body of the game's operation. Therefore, in view of the corresponding authorization and specific circumstances of operation and promotion, the plaintiff has the right to file this lawsuit.

Whether the unannounced game new version test video should be recognized as a trade secret? The court believes that: the relevant content such as game characters, scenes, and actions involved in the case have unique creativity in design style, aesthetic orientation, and picture presentation, etc., and should be recognized as 'business information' stipulated in the 'Anti-Unfair Competition Law'; at the same time, because these business information have the three characteristics of not being known to the public, having commercial value, and taking confidentiality measures, they should be recognized as trade secrets.

On May 24 this year, the People's Court of Qinhuai District, Nanjing made a first-instance judgment: it was determined that the test player Chen implemented the act of infringing the trade secret of the game operating company, and the judgment awarded the plaintiff a total of 100,000 yuan for economic losses and reasonable expenses for rights protection.