WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIOIP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
30 July 1999
(99-3244)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual PropertyOriginal:  English/
anglais/
inglés
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS
AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
The present document reproduces the text1 of the Law on Commercial Secrets, of
30 March 1998, as notified by the Kyrgyz Republic under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (seedocument IP/N/1/KGZ/1).
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriétéintellectuelle qui touchent au commerce
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD
RÉPUBLIQUE KIRGHIZE
Le présent document contient le texte
1 de la Loi du 30 mars 1998 sur les secrets
commerciaux, notifiée par la République kirghize au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir ledocument IP/N/1/KGZ/1).
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL PÁRRAFO 2
DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO
REPÚBLICA KIRGUISA
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de la Ley de secretos comerciales, de 30 de
marzo de 1998, que la República Kirguisa ha notificado en virtud del párrafo 2 del artículo 63 delAcuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/KGZ/1).
                                                     
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente.IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
Page 2
Bishkek,
March 30, 1998, #27
LAW OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
ON COMMERCIAL SECRETS
(as amended Law of the KR on June 26, 1998 #83)
Chapter I.  General provisions
Chapter II. Subjects and objects of commercial secret.
Chapter III. Prot ection of commercial secret and access to it.
The present law is to define the legal framework for the protection of commercial secrets on the
territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The objective of the present law is to provide protection to commercial secrets and to prevent unfair
competition in the economic operations [activities].
Chapter I.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Definition of Commercial Secrets
 1.  Commercial secrets shall be recognized as confidential information that does not constitute state
secrets, related to manufacturing, technological and managerial tools, financial and other operations
[activities] of an economic entity disclosure of which may damage its interests.
 
2. Information which is a commercial secret shall be  recognized to be the property of an economic
entity or to be in its possession, exploitation and disposal within the limits set forth by it pursuant to
the legislation.
Article 2. Requirements to the Information Constituting a Commercial Secret
The information constituting a commercial secret shall meet the following requirements:
a) to be of actual or potential value to an economic entity;
b) not to be publicly known or publicly accessible pursuant to the legislation;
c) to be appropriately labeled in accordance with the measures designed and undertaken by an
economic entity to protect confidentiality through a system of classification of the
aforementioned information, through the development of internal restricted usage rules,
introduction of an appropriate marking of documents and other data carriers, the streamlining
of a data usage, storage and entry process;
Article 3. Unauthorized Disclosure of a Commercial Secret
Unauthorized disclosure of a commercial secret sh all be recognized as intentional actions committed
by employees of an economic entity in possession of the data composing a commercial secret, or
committed by other physical persons or legal entities who have access to commercial information, thathave entailed premature disclosure, uncontrolled use and distribution, which have resulted in the
encroachment upon the rights of the economic entity.
(as amended of the Law of the KR of June 26, 1998, #83)IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
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Chapter II.
SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS OF A COMMERCIAL SECRET
Article 4. Subjects of a Commercial Secret
 1. Physical persons and legal entities of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as foreign physical persons and
legal entities, involved in entrepreneurial operations on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be
recognized subjects of a commercial secret.
 
2. The State shall safeguard [guarantee] the right of the subject of a commercial secret to keep and
protect it pursuant to the procedures provided by the legislation.
Article 5. Objects of a Commercial Secret
1) Intentionally concealed economic interests and data on various issues and areas of the production
and economic, managerial, scientific and technological, and financial operations of an economicentity, the protection of which is based on the competition considerations and the potential jeopardy to
the economic safety of an economic entity shall be recognized objects of a commercial secret.
 
2) The content and the volume of data constituting commercial secret shall be determined by an
economic subject.
1) The following information shall not be recognized as objects of a commercial secret:
a) founding (charter) documents, as well as other documents authorizing to conduct
entrepreneurial operations and several types of economic [businesses] activities subject tolicensing (a charter, decision to establish an enterprise and the founders’ contract, registration
certificates, licenses and patents);
 
b) data on the statutory standards for statistical reporting, as well as financial and operational
reporting and other data required in order to audit the accrued and paid taxes, as well as other
mandatory payments;
 
c) documents on payment of taxes and other mandatory payments;
 
d) solvency proving documents;
 
e) data on the number and composition of employees, their salaries and labor conditions, as well
as availability of vacancies;
 
f) data on environment pollution, violation of the anti-monopoly law, incompliance with the
labor safety rules, sale of products hazardous to the health of consumers, as well as other
infractions of the legislation and the size of the damage caused;
 
g) information on the participation of state ente rprises officials in organizations involved in
entrepreneurial operations.
 
:IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
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Article 6. Competence and Liability of Subjects of a Commercial Secret
1) Pursuant to the present law, the procedures for protection of a commercial secret shall be
determined by an economic entity or by the chief executive officer appointed by it who is to,
accordingly, inform the employees, having access to the information composing a commercial secret.
 
2) Infringement by employees of the economic entity or other physical persons of the protection
procedure for commercial secret established by the entrepreneurial activity or by or its appointed chief
executive officer shall bear responsibility provided by the legislation.
 
3) The subject of entrepreneurial activity shall be personally liable for provision of the necessary
conditions to ensure confidentiality of a commercial secret.
 
4) The State shall assist an economic entity in the establishment of the necessary conditions to
provide safety of the commercial secret.
Chapter III.
PROTECTION OF A COMMERCIAL SECRET
AND ACCESS TO IT
Article 7. The Mechanism Determining the Procedure of Protecting Commercial Secret
Subjects of a commercial secret shall develop guidelines and regulations to provide for confidentiality
of a commercial secret, which are to stipulate the following:
a) the content and volume of information constituting a commercial secret;
 
b) the procedures of conferring of the signature stamp «The secret of the enterprise» to the
information, works and production and for removal of it.
 
c) the procedure of accessing the employees of the economic entity, as well as persons
involved in its activity to the information constituting a commercial secret;
 
d) the procedure of using, registering, storing and marking of the documents [paperwork]
and other data carriers, products, information on which constitutes a commercial secret;
 
e) arranging control over procedure of using the information composing a commercial
secret;
 
f) the procedure of taking mutual commitments by economic entities to preserve  the
commercial secret when concluding an agreement on taking joint actions;
 
g) the procedure of applying  disciplinary, material measures to punish  employees  who
have disclosed a commercial secret;
 
h) imposing responsibility for providing safety of a commercial secret on an official of the
economic entity.IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
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Article 8. Obligations of Employees of an Economic Entity to Safeguard a
Commercial Secret
1. Employees of an economic entity having access to the information constituting a commercial secret
shall be obligated to:
a) safeguard a commercial secret that has become known to them in the course of work and
not to disclose it without authorization awarded in the established order provided that the
information composing the secret has not been known to them before or has not been received
by them from a third party without any commitment to keep it confidential;
 
b) comply with the requirements spelled out in the regulations, orders and guidelines
designed to ensure confidentiality of a commercial secret;
 
c) immediately report to the appropriate official or the corresponding unit of an economic
entity in cases when outsiders take attempts to  obtain information that constitutes commercial
secret;
 
d) safeguard commercial secrets of other economic entities with who they maintain business
relations;
 
e) not to use their knowledge of a commercial secret to carry out operations that as a
competing action may inflict damage on the economic entity:
 
f) transfer all data [information] carriers composing a commercial secret (manuscripts,
drafts, documents, designs, tapes, punched cards and tapes, diskettes, print-outs, cinema and
phone films, models, materials and others) in their possession to the appropriate official or thecorresponding department of an economic entity in case they are redundant/laid-off.
2) These obligations shall be assumed in writing when entering into a labor or any other kind of
agreement, or in the process of its execution.
Article 9. Specialized Subdivisions for Commercial Secrets Protection
1) In order to provide protection of commercial secrets, economic entities may organize
specialized regime units, functions and authorities of which are defined in the
relative/appropriate policies, regulations and orders.
 
2) The law enforcement agencies and other governmental bodies shall assist specialized regime
units of economic entities in carrying out functions vested in them.
Article 10. Commercial Secret Protection in Interaction  of Economic Entities
1) Negotiating parties (economic entities), including foreign partners, shall specifically
determine the content, the composition of data making up a commercial secret, as well as
mutual obligations to provide for its confiden tiality pursuant to the legislation in carrying
out trade and economic, scientific and technological, currency and financial, and other
relations [operations].
 
2) When entering into an agreement with a fore ign partner, confidentiality terms shall be in
compliance with the legislation of a country where the agreement in entered into, unless
otherwise provided by intergovermental agreements.IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
Page 6
Article 11. Access to a Commercial Secret
1) Employees the range of whom is determined by the subject of entrepreneurial activity shall
have access to commercial secrets.
 
2) The state controlling bodies and other law enforcement agencies based on their authority to
supervise and control provided by the legislation shall have the right within their
competence and based on a written request to familiarize themselves with information
composing a commercial secret.
 
3) Seizure of documents on information composing a commercial secret shall be sanctioned
by the public prosecutor or his/her deputy and in accordance with the procedure agreedupon with the heads of a relevant institution.  Seizure shall be effectuated upon a well-
grounded resolution of an investigator.
 
4) The officials of theses bodies shall bear statutory liability for disclosure of information
constituting a commercial secret of an economic entity.
Article 12. Obligations of Physical Persons and Legal Entities Having Access to
Commercial Secrets
1) Physical persons and legal entities, including executives of the state controlling and
supervising bodies, having access to commercial secrets shall be obligated to strictly
follow the requirements in respect of its confidentiality and to prevent its leakage of the
information to the economic entity’s competitors.
 
2) Transfer of information constituting commercial secret to other persons may be carried
out upon the decision or with the consent of the leader of an economic entity either free-
of-charge or for a fee.  The person who has received information composing a
commercial secret may use it without the right to disclose it to third parties, if otherwise
is not provided by the agreement.
Article 13. Limited Disclosure of a Commercial Secret in Court and in Arbitration Court
1) In the course of trial of different disputes, courts, arbitration courts and third parties
shall be entitled to familiarize themselves with only those parts of objects of commercial
secrets that are directly connected with the essence of the dispute in which an economic
entity acts either as a plaintiff or as a defendant.
 
2) Courts and arbitration courts shall have unlimited access to accounting ledgers and other
commercial information only in cases of:
a) initiating legal proceedings on bankruptcy or liquidation of an economic entity;
 
b) disputes related to legal succession/inharitage and division of property between spouses;
 
c) disputes between the founders of an economic entity.IP/N/1/KGZ/U/1
Page 7
Article 14. Basis for Determining the Fact of Disclosing Commercial Secret
Transfer of the information composing a commercial se cret to third parties shall entail the effectuation
of disciplinary, material, administrative and criminal liability provided that information in question
has been kept privileged by an economic entity and entrusted to the person who has been provided
with the information without any au thorization to disclose it and, ther efore, there are losses incurred.
(as amended Law of the KR of June 26, 1998 # 83)
Article 15. Liability for Commercial Secret Disclosure
1. In accordance with the legislation, physical and legal entities shall be made liable if found in breach
of this law and other normative acts on commercial secrets.
2. Employees of economic entities, state bodies, as well as individuals, who have illicitly received
information composing a commercial secret or seized it, shall be obligated to indemnify for the losses
caused to an economic entity or to a subject of entrepreneurship.
Article 16. Enforcement of the Present Law.
The present Law comes into force from the moment of publication. («Erkin Too» - Free Mountains»,
April 10, 1998, # 43- 44)
President of the Kyrgyz Republic A. Akaev
Adopted by the Legislative Assembly of
the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic
March 2, 1998
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