– Decision 486 of 2000 of the Andean Community. Articles 260 through 266 establishes the definition and requirements to consider information as a trade secret; protects the legitimate holder of trade secrets against the exploitation, disclosure, acquisition, or use of such secrets without the authorization of its legitimate holder and, in any case, against unfair trade practices; and punishes whoever discloses it without authorization having been warned of it.
– Law 256 of 1996 provides that the exploitation, communication or disclosure of secrets without the authorization of their legitimate holder, as well as the exploitation, communication or disclosure of a trade secret acquired by unlawful means or contrary to honest commercial practices or obtained from another person knowing or should have known that such person acquired it by unlawful means or without the authorization of the legitimate holder, are acts of unfair competition.
– Labor Code, Article 58.2 establishes the duty of the employee to refrain from using or disclosing confidential information or business secrets provided that he/she has been warned about their confidentiality.
– Penal Code, Article 308 establishes the crime of violation of industrial or commercial confidentiality. Said crime is configured when a discovery, scientific invention, process or industrial or commercial application is used, disclosed or divulged, which has been known by reason of the position, trade or profession and which should have remained under reserve, and is punishable with imprisonment and fine.

– WTO's TRIPS Agreement, including trade in Counterfeit Goods, since April 30, 1995.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since September 3, 1996.

Definition: according to Article 260 of Decision 486 of the Andean Community any undisclosed information that a natural person or legal entity legitimately holds, that may be used in any productive, industrial or commercial activity and is capable of being passed on to a third party shall be considered a business secret in so far as the said information is: (1) secret, in the sense that, as a whole or in the precise configuration and combination of its elements, it is not generally known or readily accessible to those who move in the circles that usually handle the information concerned; (2) of commercial value due to its secrecy; and (3) made the subject of reasonable measures on the part of its legitimate holder with the view to keeping it secret. The information constituting a business secret may relate to the nature, characteristics or purpose of goods, to production methods or processes or to means or methods of distributing or marketing goods or rendering services.

Criteria for enforcement: trade secrets are protected for as long as the owner takes the necessary measures to keep the information secret.

Assignment - licensing: although there is no Office as such where trade secrets and eventual transfers and/or licenses can be "registered", in practice it is possible to transfer or license trade secrets through contracts enforceable against the parties. However, the protection of confidential information will be maintained as long as the transferee or licensee implements measures to ensure that the information is kept secret.

Remedies for misappropriation: the holder of the trade secret may initiate, against the person who discloses confidential information without authorization, a proceeding for infringement of industrial property rights for violation of trade secrets before the ordinary jurisdiction (civil judges) or before the Office for jurisdictional matters of the Superintendency of industry and trade; a proceeding for unfair competition before the ordinary jurisdiction (civil judges) or before the Office for jurisdictional matters of the Superintendency of industry and trade or actions before the criminal jurisdiction for the violation of business secrets, for which the convicted person could incur a prison term of between thirty-two and ninety months and pay a fine of up to 3000 legal monthly minimum wages.

Comments: the diligence of the holder of the trade secret is key to maintaining protection, i.e. non-disclosure agreements; unequivocal acts that give a glimpse of the legitimate holder's intention to keep the information confidential; warning that the information is privileged and not disclosable.