Commercial Law
Jordanian Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition Law (2000)
The law governs unfair competition practices and the protection of trade secrets in Jordan, specifying acts that mislead the public or harm commercial and industrial competitors. It provides remedies and precautionary judicial measures—such as injunctions, seizure of goods, and evidence preservation—subject to court-accepted bank or cash security and procedural time limits for initiating claims.
Updated: 27 November 2021
Prepared and reviewed by: Ashraf Al-Khawaja
Scope of Unfair Competition
The law enumerates acts constituting unfair competition, such as practices causing confusion between competitors’ entities or products, false statements that undermine trust, and commercial information that misleads about a product’s nature, manufacture, attributes, quantity or pricing. It also covers conduct that damages product reputation or confuses presentation, and applies to trademarks whether registered or not, as well as to services where applicable. In practice, businesses must avoid deceptive labeling, imitation likely to confuse consumers, and other misleading commercial conduct.
Trade Secrets Protection and Its Limits
The law defines trade secrets by three criteria: secrecy relative to normal circles, commercial value deriving from that secrecy, and reasonable steps taken by the lawful controller to keep them confidential. The lawful controller may prevent unauthorized use or disclosure. Obtaining, using, or disclosing a trade secret without consent and contrary to honest commercial practices constitutes misuse—covering contract breaches, breaches of confidence, or acquisitions made with knowledge of wrongful means—whereas independent discovery or reverse engineering is not deemed a violation. Practically, holders must implement confidentiality measures and may seek injunctive relief, seizure of infringing goods, evidence preservation, and damages under court supervision.
Precautionary Measures and Court Procedures
An aggrieved party may seek compensation for harm caused by unfair competition or misuse of trade secrets, and may request precautionary measures from the court—accompanied by court-acceptable bank or cash security—such as stopping the conduct, precautionary seizure of related goods, and evidence preservation. Such measures may be requested before filing a suit without notifying the respondent if the applicant proves the act occurred, is imminent and likely to cause serious irreparable harm, or there is a risk of losing evidence; however, if the applicant does not file the substantive lawsuit within eight days of the court’s approval, the measures lapse. The respondent may appeal within eight days, and measures are otherwise final; parties may be liable for harm if a request is unjustified. These procedures allow rapid protection but impose security, tight deadlines, and potential liability for misuse.
Restrictions on License Terms and Regulatory Data Protection
The law voids provisions in intellectual property license agreements that restrict competition or hinder technology transfer when such terms negatively affect commerce—for example, clauses that prohibit the licensee from transferring improvements, prevent pursuit of legal or administrative claims, or compel acceptance of multiple rights instead of a single right. The scope covers copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, designs, patents, layout designs, trade secrets, and new plant varieties. Separately, regulatory data submitted for marketing approval of pharmaceuticals or agrochemicals—such as secret formulas or data obtained at substantial effort—must be protected from unclassified commercial use; others may not rely on those data to market similar products for a limited period (five years from approval), except where disclosure is necessary for public protection or the authority has taken steps to safeguard the data. In practice, anti‑competitive licensing clauses may be unenforceable and certain regulatory data receive temporally limited protection to encourage disclosure to authorities.
Legal notice
Note: This summary is for general educational purposes and is based on the original source linked on the page. It does not substitute for review of the official text, subsequent amendments, or effective dates; consult the enacted law and a licensed attorney for tailored legal advice.
Sources and references
Verify the official text and latest amendments before relying on this material professionally.