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F. France 751. Protection of Trade Secrets by the Law.a. Infringements Protecting the Manufacturing Secret.Under French law, there is no general infringement provided for by the Criminal Codethat would punish the disclosure of any trade secrets. However, the French labour Codeprovides for a specific infringement in order to protect the disclosure of anymanufacturing secret (which does not cover any trade secret) 76 . If an employee or acompany representative discloses or attempt to disclose a manufacturing secret, he orshe could be exposed to criminal prosecutions (2 years imprisonment and a fine of €30,000). The Company could also claim for damages because of such disclosure.b. Company’s Intellectual Property Rights throughInventions of an Employee.Any invention made by an employee in the performance of his functions implying aninventive mission, or in the course of studies and researches devoted to him by theemployer, belongs to the company. A company can ask for the property of any otherinvention made by one of its employees during the performance of his employmentcontract, whatever his functions are, if such invention was made by the employee:• In the scope of the activity of the Company; or75 By Kim Campion (Kim.Campione@crsblaw.com) of Charles Russell Speechlys.76 Article L.1227-1 of the Labour Code: “the disclosure or the attempt to disclose any trade secrets ispunished by two years imprisonment and a fine of €30,000. The Court is also allowed to decide, as anadditional sentence, deprivation of civil, civic or family rights for a period that cannot exceed 5 years”.3082723.3