Can you keep a Secret? Non-Disclosure Agreements, Trade Secrets, Use, Abuse and the New Law
Author : Willh26 Licence Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert A recent decision of the Court of Appeal to enforce a non-disclosure agreement ("NDA") by means of an interim injunction has led to a promise by the Prime Minister to review the law relating to such agreements (see Court stops Telegraph publishing 'sexual harassment' story 24 Oct 2018 BBC website). While NDAs, like any legal instrument can be abused, they are a very useful business tool. They enable inventors to discuss their inventions with potential collaborators and investors before they are ready to apply for patents. They prevent the disclosure or use of sensitive commercial information that may have taken years to gather. They allow business relations to continue between parties to potentially damaging disputes. Earlier this year the trade secrecy laws of the 28 member states of the European Union including the U