While working as an engineer in a factory I learnt a certain technique. I improved on the technique and left the company and went out and set up an engineering company selling machinery that utilised that improvised technique. Can I do that?
The area of law is called breach of confidence which has developed through common law and equity and deals with an obligation of confidence by parties in a certain relationship who have a responsibility not to disclose or use confidential information.
There are three important points that need to be discussed in order to ascertain whether the engineer has committed a breach of confidence. Following Coco v Clark, it is important to determine whether information about the technique has the necessary quality of confidence which is determined by several factors.
Firstly to have the necessary quality of confidence the technique must not be in the public domain, it must be a trade secret. Information that has been released by the owner including a patent application is considered to be in the public domain. Also if the information allows the engineer to have an unfair advantage in the marketplace (the springboard doctrine - knowledge of the technique allowed the engineer to springboard when setting up his own business) as a result of obtaining the information then this too would impart a quality of confidence to the information.
Secondly the quality of confidence will be determined by the relationship between the engineer and the factory. If it is one of an employer-employee relationship then a number of factors are considered whether the engineer owed a duty of confidence in respect of this information depending on the nature of the employment and the nature of the information.
The third point about unauthorised use of information occurs where confidence can occur as long as information is passed (in the course of business) and is then used to compete with the person owning the information as in Seager v Copydex.
The area of law is called breach of confidence which has developed through common law and equity and deals with an obligation of confidence by parties in a certain relationship who have a responsibility not to disclose or use confidential information.
There are three important points that need to be discussed in order to ascertain whether the engineer has committed a breach of confidence. Following Coco v Clark, it is important to determine whether information about the technique has the necessary quality of confidence which is determined by several factors.
Firstly to have the necessary quality of confidence the technique must not be in the public domain, it must be a trade secret. Information that has been released by the owner including a patent application is considered to be in the public domain. Also if the information allows the engineer to have an unfair advantage in the marketplace (the springboard doctrine - knowledge of the technique allowed the engineer to springboard when setting up his own business) as a result of obtaining the information then this too would impart a quality of confidence to the information.
Secondly the quality of confidence will be determined by the relationship between the engineer and the factory. If it is one of an employer-employee relationship then a number of factors are considered whether the engineer owed a duty of confidence in respect of this information depending on the nature of the employment and the nature of the information.
The third point about unauthorised use of information occurs where confidence can occur as long as information is passed (in the course of business) and is then used to compete with the person owning the information as in Seager v Copydex.
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