Lawful acquisition, use and disclosure of trade secrets
1.
The acquisition of a trade secret shall be considered lawful when the trade secret is obtained by any of the following means: (a)
independent discovery or creation; (b)
observation, study, disassembly or testing of a product or object that has been made available to the public or that is lawfully in the possession of the acquirer of the information who is free from any legally valid duty to limit the acquisition of the trade secret; (c)
exercise of the right of workers or workers' representatives to information and consultation in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices; (d)
any other practice which, under the circumstances, is in conformity with honest commercial practices. 2.
The acquisition, use or disclosure of a trade secret shall be considered lawful to the extent that such acquisition, use or disclosure is required or allowed by Union or national law.
- Introduction
- Directive 2016/943
- Subject matter and scope Article 1 Subject matter and scope
- Article 2 Definitions
- Lawful acquisition, use and disclosure of trade secrets
- Article 4 Unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure of trade secrets
- Article 5 Exceptions
- Measures, procedures and remedies Section 1 General provisions Article 6 General obligation
- Article 7 Proportionality and abuse of process
- Implied contractual obligations of an employee
- Equitable duty of confidence
- Vicarious liability of an employer
- Clarification of the issues in dispute
- The witnesses
- Whether the information relied on by Trailfinders was confidential
- The duties owed by Mr La Gette and Mr Bishop
- Relevant acts by Mr La Gette
- Relevant acts by Mr Bishop
- Overlap data
- Whether Mr La Gette was in breach of confidence
- Whether Mr Bishop was in breach of confidence
- Alleged breach of confidence by TCL
- Agency and employment
- Conclusion