secret des procédés

English translation: production-related confidentiality

16:57 Jan 16, 2021
French to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Government / Politics
French term or phrase: secret des procédés
Court case relating to proprietary medicines.

In France there is what appears to be a "Freedom of Information" system relating to government documents, and the body regulating this appears to be the Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs (CADA).

When documents are released to interested parties, there appear to be three categories of secrecy which can mean documents are redacted, separated into constituent parts ("disjoints") or, presumably, in certain cases, refused.

"« les mentions protégées par le secret des procédés : il s’agit des informations qui permettent de connaître le savoir-faire, les techniques de fabrication telles que la description des matériels ou logiciels utilisés et du personnel employé ou le contenu des activités de recherche-développement des entreprises, dans la mesure où ces informations traduisent un savoir-faire propre qui pourrait être reproduit dans un autre marché.

Cette exception au droit à communication peut couvrir, le cas échéant, les modalités de prise en compte des contraintes environnementales autres que celles qui sont relatives à des émissions dans l’environnement, sous réserve toutefois d’avoir apprécié l’intérêt d’une éventuelle communication, conformément à l’article L.124-4 du code de l’environnement, ainsi que les informations relatives au dimensionnement ou au choix des technologies ;

les mentions protégées par le secret des informations économiques et financières : entrent dans cette catégorie les informations qui ont trait à la situation économique d’une entreprise, à sa santé financière ou à l’état de son crédit, comme, par exemple, son chiffre d’affaires, ses documents comptables, ses effectifs et, généralement, toutes les informations de nature à révéler son niveau d’activité ;

les mentions protégées par le secret des stratégies commerciales : sont ici visées des informations sur les prix et les pratiques commerciales telles que la liste des fournisseurs ou le montant des remises consenties.
Sont également protégées les mentions qui ont trait à l’exposé de la stratégie technique et financière de la société, aux investissements matériels et au nombre de personnes employées ou affectées à chaque tâche ou au plan de financement ou à l’actionnariat » (CADA, 1er décembre 2016, no20164715)."
Mpoma
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:18
English translation:production-related confidentiality
Explanation:
This is what I suggest based on the examples they give. You could also say "manufacturing confidentiality". But a more literal translation, such as "process/procedural" would be too vague.
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Thanks. It's a bit of a mouthful compared to the snappy French, but appears to be the best we've got.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1production-related confidentiality
philgoddard
3 +1(details protected by) trade secrecy as it pertains to processes
Conor McAuley
3keeping processes secret
ph-b (X)
3industrial secrets
SafeTex
4 -1trade secret applied to manufacturing processes
Francois Boye


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
production-related confidentiality


Explanation:
This is what I suggest based on the examples they give. You could also say "manufacturing confidentiality". But a more literal translation, such as "process/procedural" would be too vague.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 42
Grading comment
Thanks. It's a bit of a mouthful compared to the snappy French, but appears to be the best we've got.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  mrrafe
27 mins

disagree  Francois Boye: Read this definition: ' A trade secret is any practice or process of a company that is generally not known outside of the company.'
1 hr
  -> Read the whole of the question. And the difference between secret and secrecy.

agree  AllegroTrans
1 day 21 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
(details protected by) trade secrecy as it pertains to processes


Explanation:
The text mentions processes, but then goes on to mention stress the importance of "savoir-faire" (know-how or expertise) twice.

I feel the word "processes" HAS to be in there, but English does not seem to like the term "process secrecy".


WIPO:

What kind of intellectual property (IP) is most often relied on by business to protect competitive advantage? Most people would answer with one of the best known areas of IP: patents, copyright, trademarks or designs. But they would be wrong. The most common form of protection used by business is secrecy.
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2013/03/article_0001.h...



Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 22:18
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 25

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ph-b (X): Was thinking and researching along the same lines, when you posted your answer.
18 mins
  -> Thanks ph-b!

neutral  philgoddard: Process is too vague. Finance and sales, the other two categories mentioned, are also processes. This one is specifically about production.
19 mins
  -> If you don't translate procédé as process, then you're a bit stuck.

neutral  Francois Boye: the legal concept is npt trade SECRECY but trade SECRET
2 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
keeping processes secret


Explanation:

I agree with Conor that the answer is somewhere chez WIPO.

Nycomed utilise aussi d’autres méthodes pour protéger ses produits. Dans certains cas, elle essaie de garder simplement le secret sur ses procédés
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/fr/2006/04/article_0002.h...

"Nycomed also protects its products in other ways. Sometimes, it simply tries to keep processes secret…"
https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2006/04/article_0002.h...

You quote CADAC documents (or so I assume), but you don’t give us the actual text of the court case in which you’ve found the term you ask. It would be helpful to have it – unless you may not quote from it for confidential reasons – as we could suggest a translation that fits your text. In any case, I think that it's logical to assume that "processes" and "secret" have to be part of the answer.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 hrs (2021-01-17 15:11:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"confidential reasons" ?! > "you may not quote from it in order to keep it confidential..." Pff...

ph-b (X)
France
Local time: 22:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
industrial secrets


Explanation:
"Trade secrets" seems a tad to comprehensive for me so if we try to narrow it down to "procédés", maybe this will work


    https://www.clarkemodet.com/en/faq-items/what-is-an-industrial-secret/
    https://www.basham.com.mx/en/project/industrial-creations-industrial-secrets/
SafeTex
France
Local time: 22:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 day 9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
trade secret applied to manufacturing processes


Explanation:
The'secret des procédés' is an application of trade secret because trade secret includes the 'secret des procédés'

A trade secret is any practice or process of a company that is generally not known outside of the company. Information considered a trade secret gives the company a competitive advantage over its competitors and is often a product of internal research and development.

Source: Investopedia



Trade secrets include information as broad-ranging as manufacturing processes, product development, industrial techniques, formulas and customer lists. The protection of this form of intellectual property is critical to driving the innovation and creativity at the heart of the American economy.

Source: https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/legislation/article...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 1 hr (2021-01-18 18:17:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Manufacturing processes are not protected because they are kept secret.

They are protected because their owner is protected by the ownership of an intellectual property right (called a trade secret) recognized by WTO and all its member countries.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 2 hrs (2021-01-18 19:20:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Erratum: WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) instead of WTO (World Trade Organization)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 days 2 hrs (2021-01-18 19:21:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law by, for example, patents , copyright and trademarks , which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create.

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 17:18
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  philgoddard: Secret is wrong - look in a dictionary. It doesn't make you look good to disagree with native speakers' English. And after saying my answer is wrong, you've deleted yours and replaced it with one very similar to mine.
20 hrs
  -> What is wrong with Trade SECRET? All my attachments are from ENGLISH speaking sources. I did not invent the concept of trade SECRET: you just don't know it!!!!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.


See also:
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search