DR.

SHAKUNTLA MISRA NATIONAL

REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY,LUCKNOW

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

SPRINGBOARD DOCTRINE – STUDY OF TRADE SECRETS INFORMATION

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Mr. Sandeep Sir SHUBHAM PATHAK

Law Faculty B.COM LL.B (H)

TH
D.S.M.N.R.U 6 SEM.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to Mr. Sandeep Sir,who gave me the
golden opportunity to this wonderful topic SPRINGBOARD DOCTRINE – STUDY OF
TRADE SECRET INFORMATION which also help in doing a lot of research work and I
came to know about a lot of things and I am really thankful for that.
 TRADE SECRET

· Trade Secret provides advantage to any organisation over their competitors who do
not have that information.

· Trade secret is defined in Black Law Dictionary, By Bryan A. Garner :

“A formula, process, device, or other business information that is kept confidential to maintain
an advantage over competitors; information including a formula, pattern, compilation,
program, device, method, technique, or process that :

1. derives independent economic value, actual or potential from not being generally known
or readily ascertainable by others who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use

2. is the subject of reasonable efforts, under the circumstances, to maintain its secrecy.”

This definition states the majority view, which is found in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.

OBJECTIVES OF TRADE SECRET:

· To understand the nature of trade secrets, the reasons for protecting them and the
practical challenges in identifying and protecting them.
· To know how to develop an effective trade secret management program.
· To understand what is meant by misappropriation of a trade secret and how to
prevent such misappropriation.
· To know how to take various types of suitable actions to prevent violation of trade
secrets. To understand why and how to conduct a trade secret audit.
 SPRINGBOARD DOCTRINE

· A springboard injunction is a type of injunction designed to remove or limit the

advantage that an employee has gained through unlawful activities, typically through
the misuse of the employer’s confidential information.
· The individual is placed “under a special disability” by the injunction in order to
“ensure that he does not get an unfair start”.
· All of the early cases under the springboard doctrine are related to the misuse
of confidential information.

WHAT MUST BE ESTABLISHED TO OBTAIN A

SPRINGBOARD INJUNCTION?

· That there has been unlawful behaviour on the part of the former employee/director –
typically misuse of confidential information but increasingly other breaches of duty.
· That an unfair competitive advantage over the employer as a result of the
unlawful activity has been obtained.
· That the nature and period of the competitive advantage is more than “short-term”.
· That the advantage still exists at the date the springboard injunction is sought and
will continue to have effect unless the relief is granted.
 COCA-COLA CASE STUDY

· In1880, upon developing its secret recipe for the world’s first soft-drink, the Coca- Cola
Company was presented with a dilemma of sorts.
· It needed desperately to protect what it had just developed, yet patent protection would
only provide security for 17 years.
· The executives at Coca-Cola weighed these factors, and determined that they had the
means to keep the recipe for Coca-Cola completely secret. Thus they chose not to file
a patent.
· The FBI arrested three people in Atlanta on charges that they conspired to steal
trade secrets from Coca-Cola Co. and sell the information for more than $1.5
million to PepsiCo Inc., federal law enforcement officials said.
· The defendants, including one Coca-Cola employee, who worked as an administrative
assistant in the company's Atlanta headquarters, contacted PepsiCo officials, who
tipped off Coca- Cola officials, were sentenced to jail.

FINDING EFFECTS OF ENACTING TRADE SECRET LAW

· The trade secret law will place responsibilities, accountability and obligation on all
businessmen and companies.
· It will make answerable to all legal persons to Trade Secret officer or equivalent officer.
Trade Secret Law will update existing Trade Secret protection in various statutes.
· Trade Secret Law will declare that what does the Trade Secret cover and define kinds of
secret information.
· Trade Secret Commissioner or equivalent will entertain complaints. If they are found
to be breaching the Trade Secret Law then legal action can be taken.
· Effected person will get the right to sue for compensation and punishment
for wrongdoers
 THE TRIPS AGREEMENT ON UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION

· Protection of undisclosed information is addressed in Article 39 of the Agreement on

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
· This agreement entered into force on 1 January 1995 and established an
international standard requiring WTO Members to protect undisclosed information
including agricultural and pharmaceutical test data

SECTION 7: PROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION,

ARTICLE 39

 has commercial value because it is secret; has been subject to reasonable steps under the
circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret.
· Members, when requiring, as a condition of approving the marketing of pharmaceutical
or of agricultural chemical products which utilise new chemical entities, the submission
of undisclosed test or other data, the origination of which involves a considerable effort,
shall protect such data against unfair commercial use. In addition, Members shall protect
such data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public, or unless
steps are taken to ensure that the data are protected against unfair commercial use.
 PARIS CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY, ARTICLES 1 AND 10BIS.

· In protecting Trade Secrets, the TRIPS Agreement references the protection provided in
the Paris Convention against unfair competition.
· Article 10bis of the Paris Convention highlights the nature of protection against unfair
competition.
· Article 1 also defines the scope of industrial property originally covered, which
the TRIPS Agreement extends by explicitly providing for protection of
undisclosed information.

ADVANTAGES OF TRADE SECRET PROTECTION

· Trade secrets involve no registration costs;

· Trade secret protection does not require disclosure or registration;
 Trade secret protection is not limited in time; Trade secrets have immediate effect.

VIOLATION OF TRADE SECRETS

To establish violation of trade secret rights, the owner of a trade secret must be able to show
the following:

· Infringement by or competitive advantage gained by the person/company which

has misappropriated the trade secret.
· The owner had taken all reasonable steps to maintain it as a secret.
· There is misuse as the information obtained has been used or disclosed in violation of
the honest commercial practices.
 CONCLUSION

· Trade secrets protection is fundamental to encourage innovative steps, foreign

investments and to promote healthy competition.
· In India, trade secrets is the most deserted field as there is no proper policy framework
for the protection of trade secrets and some indirect provisions from contract law,
criminal law and copyright law protect the trade secrets. These laws are not sufficient
for adequate protection of trade secrets in India.
· It is difficult to accept the fact that Indian law doesn’t place any sort of relevance upon the
growth of new and developing IPR laws in the world.New trade secret legislation is
therefore, the only way to ensure strong and effective IPR protection which would in turn
open up new and profitable possibilities for the business scenario in India to flourish.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites:

· https://blogs.ipleaders.in
· www.legalservicesindia.com

Books:

· Intellectual Property Rights – V.K. AHUJA