The year 2018 will entail profound changes for companies with high innovative potential which operate globally, particularly for SMEs. This is due to several reasons. First of all, by May 2018, European companies will have to adapt to the new requirements introduced by the EU Regulation 679/2016 (better known as General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR) on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. Secondly, by June 2018 the EU Directive 2016/943 on Trade Secrets will oblige EU Member States to harmonize national laws and implement internal regulations aimed at the protection of industrial secrets, particularly in relation to the acquisition, use and disclosure of the same. If the compliance required by the aforementioned legislative instruments will be managed strategically by companies that operate globally – hence also those that intend to maintain partnership relations with European and/or US companies – such undertakings may push companies to create and implement protocols and internal procedures in order to strategically manage the data and, where the relevant conditions are met, protect them as trade secrets and intellectual property rights, as well as enhancing them from an economic point of view.
New challenges for high innovative companies: data protection, trade secrets and cyber-security
Relator: Mr. Elio De Tullio
Italian Attorney-at-Law and Lawyer, Registered European and Italian Trade Mark & Design Attorney, De Tullio & PartnersItaly
Elio De Tullio is Managing Partner of De Tullio & Partners, Intellectual Property Law Firm. Attorney-at-Law admitted to the Bar in Italy since 1994 and litigator before the Italian Corporate Courts specialized in Intellectual Property. He is registered as European and Italian Trade Mark & Design Attorney since 2005. He matured considerable expertise in assisting companies (in particular, SMEs) and associations operating internationally in the technology sector. He cooperates as an expert with WIPO, EUIPO and the European Commission, as well as with the EU-China and the EU-Asean IPR SME Helpdesks. He is a frequent lecturer for several Italian Universities and speaker during international conferences and seminars, as well as author of numerous publications and articles on international magazines and reviews.
