THE LEGALITY OF REVERSE ENGINEERING AND THE PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS IN THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

Naeem AllahRakha

Abstract


This article explores the legality of reverse engineering and the protection of trade secrets in the software industry. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal framework governing these issues and their implications for software developers and companies. Through a qualitative research methodology employing a doctrinal approach, the study examines relevant legal documents and scholarly articles. The findings suggest that while reverse engineering is generally legal, limitations and exceptions exist to protect trade secrets. The study highlights the importance of implementing effective legal and practical measures to safeguard valuable information in the software industry. Recommendations include the use of licensing agreements, confidentiality agreements, and technological protection measures. This research emphasizes the importance of balancing innovation through reverse engineering with the protection of intellectual property rights, while also addressing broader implications for the software industry. This article contributes by providing legal and practical guidance for software developers and companies in navigating the challenges between innovation through reverse engineering and the protection of trade secrets.

Artikel ini membahas legalitas rekayasa balik (reverse engineering) dan perlindungan rahasia dagang dalam industri perangkat lunak. Penelitian ini bertujuan memberikan pemahaman yang komprehensif mengenai kerangka hukum yang mengatur isu-isu tersebut serta implikasinya bagi pengembang perangkat lunak dan perusahaan. Melalui metodologi penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan doktrinal, penelitian ini menganalisis dokumen hukum yang relevan dan artikel ilmiah. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa meskipun rekayasa balik umumnya legal, terdapat batasan dan pengecualian untuk melindungi rahasia dagang. Penelitian ini menekankan pentingnya penerapan langkah-langkah hukum dan praktis yang efektif untuk melindungi informasi berharga dalam industri perangkat lunak. Rekomendasi mencakup penggunaan perjanjian lisensi, perjanjian kerahasiaan, dan langkah-langkah perlindungan teknologi. Penelitian ini menyoroti pentingnya menyeimbangkan inovasi melalui rekayasa balik dengan perlindungan hak kekayaan intelektual, serta membahas implikasi yang lebih luas bagi industri perangkat lunak. Artikel ini berkontribusi dalam memberikan panduan hukum dan praktis bagi pengembang perangkat lunak dan perusahaan dalam menavigasi tantangan antara inovasi melalui rekayasa balik dan perlindungan rahasia dagang.

Keywords


reverse engineering; trade secrets; legal frameworks; TRIPS; CAD; WIPO;

Full Text:

PDF

References


Arcidiacono, Davide. "The Trade Secrets Directive in the International Legal Framework." European Papers 1, no. 3 (2016): 1073-1085. https://doi.org/10.15166/2499-8249/83.

AllahRakha, N. (2024). Cybersecurity Regulations for Protection and Safeguarding Digital Assets (Data) in Today’s Worlds. Lex Scientia Law Review, 8(1), 405-432. https://doi.org/10.15294/lslr.v8i1.2081

AllahRakha, N. (2024). Global Perspectives on Cybercrime Legislation. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(10), 6007. https://doi.org/ 10.24294/jipd.v8i10.6007

Birnhack, Michael. "Reverse engineering informational privacy law." Yale Journal of Law & Technology 15, no. 1 (2013). https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yjolt/vol15/iss1/3.

Bos, Jelle. "Confidentiality." Research Ethics for Students in the Social Sciences, Springer, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48415-6_7.

Caplanova, Anetta. "Start-Up Creation: Intellectual property." The Smart Eco-Efficient Built Environment, 105-126, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100546-0.00007-8.

Chen, Yifan. "Enforceability of Anti-Reverse Engineering Clauses in Software Licensing Agreements: The Chinese Position and Lessons from the United States and European Union's Laws." University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 43, no. 3 (2022): 783-819. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2052&context=jil.

Chiriță, A.-P., A.-M. Borș, R.-I. Rădoi, I.-C. Dumitrescu, and A.-M. C. Popescu. "Leveraging Additive Manufacturing and Reverse Engineering for Circular Economy-Driven Remanufacturing of Hydraulic Drive System Components." Applied Sciences 13, no. 22 (2023): 12200. https://doi.org/10.3390/app132212200.

Davidson, Stephen J. "Reverse engineering and the development of compatible and competitive products under United States law." Santa Clara High Tech. L.J. 5 (1989): 399. http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol5/iss2/7.

Ehrlich, Marsha A. "Fair Use or Foul Play? The EC Directive on the Legal Protection of Computer Programs and Its Impact on Reverse Engineering." Pace Law Review 13, no. 3 (1994): 1003. https://doi.org/10.58948/2331-3528.1420.

Geng, Zhe, and Bopaya Bidanda. "Review of reverse engineering systems – current state of the art." Virtual and Physical Prototyping 12, no. 2 (2017): 161-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/17452759.2017.1302787.

Gerard-Reimer, Corinna C. "Race Cartels: How Constructor Collaboration Is Curbing Innovation in Formula 1." Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 23 (2021): 855. https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol23/iss4/4.

Hoeren, Thomas. The New EU Directive on the Protection of Trade Secrets and Its Implementation. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd., 2020.

Irgens-Jensen, Harald. "Departing employees, confidentiality clauses and European trade secret protection." IIC, International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law 54, no. 4 (2023): 495–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-023-01311-0.

Kamil, Yousra, Svente Lund, and Mariam Suad Islam. "Information security objectives and the output legitimacy of ISO/IEC 27001: stakeholders' perspective on expectations in private organizations in Sweden." Information Systems and E-Business Management 21 (2023): 699–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-023-00646-y.

Kienle, Holger M., and Hausi A. Müller. "The Tools Perspective on Software Reverse Engineering: Requirements, Construction, and Evaluation." Advances in Computers 79 (2010): 189-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2458(10)79005-7.

Kumar, Rajeev. "Technology Transfer Agreements within the European Union: An Analysis of Block Exemption Regulation." Journal of Intellectual Property Rights 19, no. 3 (2014): 229-233. https://nopr.niscpr.res.in/bitstream/123456789/28930/1/JIPR%2019%283%29%20229-233.pdf.

LaRoque, Scott J. "Reverse Engineering and Trade Secrets in the Post-Alice World." Kansas Law Review 66 (2017): 427-457. https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/25704/10_LaRoque_Final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Mahfuzzah, Zenni, Saidin Saidin, Budiman Ginting, and Tanya Karissa Devi. "Non-disclosure Agreements (NDA) as a Legal Protection on Trade Secrets in Work Agreements in Indonesia." KnowledgeE 8, no. 21 (2024). https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v8i21.14768.

Mancaleoni, Anna Maria, and Elise Poillot. National judges and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union: Proceedings of the conference held in Cagliari, 1st June 2018. Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, 2021. https://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/nati-mape.pdf.

Mauk, John E. "The Slippery Slope of Secrecy: Why Patent Law Preempts Reverse-Engineering Clauses in Shrink-Wrap Licenses." William & Mary Law Review 43, no. 2 (2001): 819. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol43/iss2/7.

Mylly, Ulla-Maija. "Intellectual property protection of computer program interfaces and interoperability." Publications of IPR University Center No. 12. Helsinki, Finland: Oy Nord Print Ab, 2013.

Mylly, Ulla-Maija. "Transparent AI? Navigating Between Rules on Trade Secrets and Access to Information." IIC 54, no. 8 (2023): 1013–1043. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-023-01328-5.

Nashkova, Sibela. "Defining Trade Secrets in the United States: Past and Present Challenges – A Way Forward?." IIC 54, no. 5 (2023): 634–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-023-01310-1.

Page, Amy C. "Microsoft: A Case Study in International Competitiveness, High Technology, and the Future of Antitrust Law." Federal Communications Law Journal 47, no. 1, Article 9 (1994). https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol47/iss1/9.

Palmer, Amanda K., and Thomas C. Vinje. "The EC directive on the legal protection of computer software: New law governing software development." Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 2 (1992): 65-87. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1307&context=djcil.

Radauer, Alfred, Nial Searle, and Martin A. Bader. "The possibilities and limits of trade secrets to protect data shared between firms in agricultural and food sectors." World Patent Information 73 (2023): 102183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wpi.2023.102183.

Republic of Uzbekistan. "Law on Trade Secrets, No. LRU-374." 2014. https://lex.uz/ru/docs/6642218.

Saha, Chandra Nath, and Sanjib Bhattacharya. "Intellectual property rights: An overview and implications in pharmaceutical industry." Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research 2, no. 2 (2011): 88–93. https://doi.org/10.4103/2231-4040.82952.

Samuelson, Pamela, and Suzanne Scotchmer. "The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering." The Yale Law Journal 111, no. 7 (2002): 1575–1663. https://doi.org/10.2307/797533.

Sandeen, Sharon K. "Kewanee revisited: Returning to first principles of intellectual property law to determine the issue of federal preemption." Intellectual Property Law Review 12 (2008): 299. http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/iplr/vol12/iss2/3.

Schuldt, Lars. "EU Copyright and Trade Mark Law: a unifying lens for the protection of Fashion Designs? Analysis and research into a better understanding of the concepts of originality and distinctiveness." 2023. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1776959/FULLTEXT01.pdf.

Sengar, Dipa Singh. "PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS AND UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION: LAW AND LITIGATION." Journal of the Indian Law Institute 53, no. 2 (2011): 254–274. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43953505.

Shemtov, Noam. "On reverse engineering and decompilation." Beyond the Code: Protection of Non-Textual Features of Software. Oxford Academic, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198716792.003.0003.

Snider, M., S. Teegavarapu, D. S. Hesser, and J. D. Summers. "Augmenting Tools for Reverse Engineering Methods." Proceedings of the ASME 2006 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 371-380. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: ASME, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2006-99676.

Trallero Ocaña, Teresa. "Chapter 6. The internal and external spheres of secrecy and their limitations." In The Notion of Secrecy, 467-560, 2021. DOI: 10.5771/9783748911975-467.

Verma, S. K. "LEGAL PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION." Journal of the Indian Law Institute 44, no. 3 (2002): 336–353. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43951824.

Weston, Suriyah. "Improving interoperability by encouraging the sharing of interface specifications." Law, Innovation and Technology 9, no. 1 (2017): 78-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2017.1302695.

World Trade Organization. "Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS): Part II — Standards concerning the availability, scope and use of Intellectual Property Rights, Sections 7 and 8." 1994. https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_04d_e.htm.

Yeh, Brian T. "Protection of Trade Secrets: Overview of Current Law and Legislation." CRS Report No. R43714. Congressional Research Service, 2016. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/secrecy/R43714.pdf.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/j.v15i2.28422

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Published By:

Jurusan Hukum Ekonomi Syariah
Fakultas Syariah
Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang
Jl. Gajayana No. 50, 65144 Malang, East Java, Indonesia
Telp./Fax.: (0341) 559399
Email: jurisdictie@uin-malang.ac.id

Abstacting & Indexing :

Sinta Portal Garuda Google Schoolar MoraRef

Creative Commons License
Jurisdictie: Jurnal Hukum dan Syariah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.