– Decision 486 of the Andean Community (Cartagena Agreement), in force since December 1, 2000. (Articles 260 through 266 protect trade secrets.)

Membership in International Conventions

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since November 4, 1993.
– WTO's TRIPS Agreement, since July 5, 1995.

Protection

Definition: pursuant to Article 260 of Decision 486, a trade secret shall be considered to be any undisclosed information within the lawful control of an individual person or legal entity that may be used for any productive, industrial, or commercial activity and that is capable of being transmitted to a third party.

Criteria for enforcement: in order for a trade secret to be protected the following must be met: (1) the information as a whole must not be known or easily accessible. If isolated fragments of the information become known, but the systematic whole of the information remains protected, the system as such may still be considered secret. For this condition to apply, it is necessary that the owner of the information takes the respective measures so that people cannot easily access it; (2) the information must have a commercial value because it is a secret. The trade secret is protectable as long as it can be used in a productive, industrial or commercial activity, which means that it is a matter of great economic importance to the owner; (3) the owner or holder of the information must establish reasonable measures to keep it secret. The reasonableness of the measures must be determined in relation to the type of people who normally handle information with similar characteristics.

Assignment - licensing: any person lawfully in control of a trade secret may transfer it to a third party or authorize its use by a third party. That authorized user shall be under the obligation not to disclose the industrial secret by any means, unless otherwise agreed with the person having transferred or authorized use of that secret. Agreements for the transfer of technological know-how, technical assistance, or the provision of basic or detailed engineering may include confidentiality clauses to protect the trade secrets contained therein, provided that such clauses are not contrary to antitrust provisions on free competition.

Remedies for misappropriation: pursuant to Article 260 of Decision 486, acquiring, using, communicating or disclosing a trade secret without the owner's authorization is considered unfair competition, regardless of whether this information has been obtained legitimately or illegitimately. Decision 486 does not specify the remedies available to stop unfair trade practices, but Article 70 of the Bolivian Commercial Code on unfair competition states that trade secret owners may bring legal actions to stop infringement, to ask the material to be destroyed, or to claim for damages, for example. Likewise, Article 302 of the Bolivian Criminal Code establishes a prison sentence and a fine for any person who reveals or uses a professional secret.