How to Protect Trade Secrets and Know-How When Entering the International Market

Entering the international market is not only about new opportunities, but also about new risks. While you are registering a trademark, applying for patents or building a company structure abroad, your business is already starting to live: you are negotiating, hiring employees, looking for suppliers, testing the concept, sharing information with potential investors and partners. At this stage, it is easy to lose the main thing - your idea, if you do not protect it legally in advance.

The international law firm Antwort Law offers professional solutions for protecting commercial information, know-how and unique developments at the early stage of launching and scaling a business. Even if the legal mechanisms for protecting intellectual property have not yet been formalized, you can effectively limit the risks - with the help of a well-written contractual framework.

Why is the early stage the most vulnerable?

According to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) statistics, registering a trademark in another country takes from 6 to 18 months. With patents, it is even more difficult: preliminary checks, international procedures, translations, official fees. But entrepreneurs cannot wait. To enter the market, you need to:

• Develop a product or service;
• Conduct marketing research;
• Enter agreements with contractors;
• Test hypotheses;
• Look for investors and make pitches.

Each step is a leak of information: ideas, business models, technical solutions, algorithms, processes, and without proper protection, any counterparty can use your development, idea or scheme - and you will not be able to prevent this, especially if the documents are not signed.

What can be stolen, even if there are no patents or TM yet?

• A formula or technological solution (for example, the composition of cosmetics, a chemical product, a recipe for dietary supplements or the specifics of an IT algorithm);
• A business model or original packaging/service;
• A list of suppliers and contractors;
• A marketing strategy;
• Content and presentations (including slogans, visual elements, layout);
• A client base and CRM system;
• A description of the franchise that you have not yet registered.

Often, companies simply do not have the time or budget for urgent international protection of IP rights, but this is not a reason to leave the business without protection.

What to do? Answer: Contractual protection

The fastest and most effective way to maintain control over intellectual property at an early stage are special contracts developed by lawyers taking into account international practice. Here are the key tools:

NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

Legally obliges the counterparty, employee, investor or contractor not to disclose or use the transferred information. Works even in the absence of trademarks and patents, if:

• it is correctly determined what is confidential information;
• the consequences for violation are spelled out;
• the territorial and time reference is indicated.

Antwort Law develops NDAs taking into account the requirements of a specific country and the client's industry.

NCA (Non-Compete Agreement)

Prevents the use of the received information in a similar business. For example: a freelance designer or employee does not have the right to launch their own product in the same niche and with the same target market within 2 years after completing the work. In some countries, NCA is limited by law, but if formulated correctly, it is valid even in Europe and the USA.

IP Assignment Agreement / Agreement on alienation of rights

It is used when working with freelancers, developers, contractors: whoever creates - owns. If the agreement is not signed, then the author's code, text, logo or visual belongs to the performer, and not you. We will formalize the transfer of all rights to the result at the time you need: from MVP to the final release.

Founder's Agreement / Agreement between co-founders

If the business has several partners, it is important to record:

• who owns the rights to the idea and development;
• how the shares are distributed;
• how commercial information is protected;
• who and to what extent can communicate with the outside world (pitches, negotiations, publications).

This is critical until the legal entity is officially registered.

Which jurisdictions are the most problematic in terms of protection?

• China: high probability of copying without legal consequences. NDA is mandatory.
• India, Vietnam, Malaysia: low level of IP enforcement. A contract in English and local language is required.
• Turkey, Georgia, CIS countries: ambiguous judicial practices. It is important to prescribe liability in advance.
• USA and EU: require legal precision in wording, but strictly protect if the contract is drawn up correctly.

Why choose Antwort Law?

• We support clients in more than 20 jurisdictions: from the UAE and Hong Kong to Germany, France and the USA.
• We do not simply “copy” a template - we adapt each document to the type of business, launch goal, team type, jurisdiction and counterparty profile.
• We have experience in protecting IT platforms, author's projects, marketplaces, food technologies, pre-seed startups and international launches.

An idea is expensive, but only when it is protected. While you are only filing for registration of a trademark or patent, you already need to act - and protect yourself with a contract that you can present in court, during negotiations with an investor or in response to copying.

Antwort Law offers full contractual protection for businesses entering international markets. We will ensure the safety of your intellectual property right from the start. While others are only planning, you are already building a confident legal architecture. Contact us - and we will create a protective shell around your business before it becomes known to the whole world.

Lidia Ivanova

International lawyer
Antwort Law