IFRA welcomes EU Parliament support for proposed directive to protect trade secrets

The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has welcomed a decision by the EU Parliament to endorse the compromise reached with last December on the proposed directive to protect trade secrets.

IFRA noted that the formation of a new fragrance for various purposes, including for using in luxury perfume, shampoo or detergent, may need months or years and several trials.

Numerous fragrance houses, including big and small, depend on trade secrets to guard the know-how spent in production of raw materials, their selection and transformation into fragrant products.

However, this know-how is mostly prone to unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure.

Therefore, the new EU directive is expected to help fragrance houses to protect their investments in know-how and promote continued innovation in the sector.

IFRA president Pierre Sivac said: "What is particularly helpful for our sector is the provision, clarified by the Parliament during the legislative process, that the directive covers the unlawful use of information even when legally acquired.

"Our industry is particularly vulnerable to the misuse of information gathered legitimately by commonplace reverse engineering practices but then used in an unlawful way.

"This could include the launch of an identical copy or a client using the information to help a competitor create the same composition more cheaply."

Last December, the EU Parliament reached on compromise with the Council on the proposed directive.

Group of the European People’s Party member Constance le Grip said: "With one company out of every five a victim of theft of trade secrets every year, harmonisation should allow the creation of a safe and trustworthy environment for European companies, which will see their intangible assets and know-how secured.

"I’ve also been fighting to ensure that the safeguards laid down in this text to protect the work of journalists and whistle-blowers are as real and as unambiguous as can be."

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Image: Fragrance houses depend on trade secrets to guard the know-how spent production of raw materials. Photo: courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.