Keeping It Confidential: How Bosnia and Herzegovina Now Protects Trade Secrets

In June 2026, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets entered into force. For the first time, the country has a single legal framework for protecting confidential business information, one that also brings domestic legislation in line with European Union standards, primarily Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) and Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Until now, this area was only partly regulated, scattered across various instruments, with no unified system that clearly set out the scope of protection or the remedies available to rights holders. That patchwork left businesses exposed to legal uncertainty, especially where confidential information was used or disclosed without authorisation. The new law changes that: it defines what is a trade secret, how it is protected, and what follows if someone acquires, uses, or discloses it unlawfully.

A trade secret is information that, because it is not generally known or readily accessible to those who normally deal with it, carries commercial value, and which its lawful holder protects through reasonable steps to keep it confidential. In this respect, a well-drafted non-disclosure agreement is one of the clearest ways for a company to show it has taken those reasonable steps.

Where a trade secret is unlawfully acquired or disclosed, the right holder has a range of measures available. They may seek a finding of infringement, an order to stop the conduct, a prohibition on any further use or disclosure, removal of the consequences of the infringement, compensation for damages, and other measures provided by law.

Acquisition of a trade secret, on the other hand, is lawful where it comes about through independent discovery or creation, through reverse engineering of a product that has been lawfully made available (or is held by someone not contractually barred from doing so), through the exercise of employees’ or their representatives’ rights to information and consultation, or through any other conduct that, in the circumstances, is consistent with honest commercial practices.

The law also sets out situations where its measures simply do not apply. These include the exercise of freedom of expression and the public’s right to information, whistleblowers acting to disclose unlawful conduct, justified disclosure to employee representatives, the protection of rights granted under other regulations, and the provision of legal assistance by attorneys and legal representatives.

The significance of all this is hard to ignore. In practice, trade secrets are often a company’s most valuable asset, particularly where a given solution does not meet the requirements for patent protection, or where the owner simply prefers to keep it confidential.

Finally, the law has a broader role in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European integration. Harmonizing legislation with the EU Acquis is one of the obligations on the path toward the European Union, and adopting standards already in place across Member States makes it easier for domestic companies to work with foreign partners.