Confi dential Information and Know-How
Janice Denoncourt · 2013
Confi dential information is the riskiest form of intellectual property in which to deal, because of its nature. There is no registered right to evaluate or assess. It is not like patents, copyright or designs where a particular ‘thing’ is afforded protection. Rather, know-how or certain such information is valuable precisely because it is confi dential and not in the public domain. The extent of the confi dential information or knowhow is usually diffi cult to establish with certainty. In the UK, an action for breach of confi dence may lie in equity, or contract or at common law. The legal doctrine of confi dential information is a set of principles developed over centuries by the courts. It is the application of those principles to particular fact situations which determines whether the information is confi dential or not. To achieve fairness, broad legal principles have been developed to permit considerable fl exibility. The fundamental legal principle that forms the underlying basis of the law of confi dence is that a person who has received confi dential information from another will not take unfair advantage of it or profi t from the wrongful use or publication of it.