The claimant had developed an additive which would assist in making plastic bags bio-degradable. They alleged that, in breach of confidentiality agreements, the defendants had copied the product. The defendants said the confidentiality agreement was ineffective.
Held: The part of the information copied was not confidential having been previously disclosed. When expert witnesses conflicted, the witness’s performance should be looked at in the light of his or her evidence as a whole. Mistakes in one part of a witness’ evidence may not affect the whole of their evidence.
Peter Smith J said: ‘A witness may lie in a stupid attempt to bolster a case, but the actual case nevertheless remains good irrespective of the lie. A witness may lie because the case is a lie.’
The Honourable Mr Justice Peter Smith
[2004] EWHC 2945 (Ch), Times 14-Jan-2005, [2005] 1 WLR 3456, [2005] FSR 22
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Triplex Safety Glass Co Ltd v Scorah 1938
A company may be able to rely upon an obligation of confidentiality even though the formal agreement for confidence entered into is for some reason ineffective. . .
Cited – O Mustad and Son v Dosen and Another; O Mustad and Son vAllcock HL 1924
(Heard in 1924, but noted only in 1963) Dosen worked for a company T under a contract of employment that included an undertaking to keep confidential information acquired at work. His employer went into liquidation. The benefit of that company’s . .
Cited – Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd (MGN) (No 1) HL 6-May-2004
The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story . .
Cited – Saltman Engineering Co v Campbell Engineering Co Ltd CA 1948
The plaintiffs instructed the defendant to make tools for the manufacture of leather punches in accordance with drawings which the plaintiffs provided to the defendant for this purpose. The defendant used the drawings to make tools, and the tools to . .
Cited – Suhner and Co AG v Transradio Ltd 1967
The claimants complained at the defendant having registered a company under the name ‘Suhner’. The defendants gave no justification for using the word ‘Suhner’ as part of their name. They claimed that they had the right to form a company in order to . .
Cited – Cordell v Second Clanfield Properties Ltd 1969
In a fast developing area of law, judges should acknowledge the value of ‘fertilisers of thought’: ‘argued law is tough law . . I would expose those views to the testing and refining process of argument. Today, as of old, by good disputing shall the . .
Cited – Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (No 2) (‘Spycatcher’) HL 13-Oct-1988
Loss of Confidentiality Protection – public domain
A retired secret service employee sought to publish his memoirs from Australia. The British government sought to restrain publication there, and the defendants sought to report those proceedings, which would involve publication of the allegations . .
Cited – O Mustad and Son v Dosen and Another CA 1923
There had been a discussion as to what a trade secret might be:- ‘The learned Judge discussed with the Jury what constitutes a trade secret, but of course it is no good discussing what constitutes a trade secret if the person who is the owner of the . .
Cited – Seager v Copydex Ltd CA 1967
Mr Seager had invented a patented carpet grip which he manufactured and marketed under the trade mark Klent. There were protracted negotiations between Mr Seager and Copydex over a proposal for Copydex to market the Klent. One of the issues in the . .
Cited – Lancashire Fires Ltd v S A Lyons and Co Ltd CA 1996
It was claimed that a loan to the employee from a customer of the employer coupled with an exclusive supply agreement by the employee as and when the competing business becomes operative was in breach of an non-compete clause.
Held: The . .
Cited – Franklin v Giddins 1978
The female defendant, from a certain date knew that an orchard conducted by her husband and herself contained nectarine trees propagated by a grafting process undertaken by her husband based upon budwood cuttings stolen by her husband from the . .
Cited – Phillips, Harland (Administrators of the Estate of Michailidis), Papadimitriou; Symes (A Bankrupt), Robin Symes Limited (In Administrative Receivership), Domercq etc ChD 30-Jul-2004
Under the Ciivil Procedure Rules, experts have acquired greater responsibilities to the court. Those responsibilities transcend their perceived obligations to the parties whom they give evidence. . .
Cited by:
Appeal from – EPI Environmental Technologies Inc, EPI Environmental Products Inc v Symphony Plastic Technologies Plc Symphony Environmental Limited CA 26-Jan-2006
Alleged breach of rights in trade secrets. . .
Cited – Baigent and Another v The Random House Group Ltd (The Da Vinci Code) ChD 7-Apr-2006
The claimants alleged infringement of copyright by the defendant publishers and author in the plot and otherwise in the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’. They said that their own work had been copied substantially, using themes and copying language. The . .
Cited – St Paul Travelers Insurance Co Ltd v Okporuah and others ChD 10-Aug-2006
The first defendant had acquired several properties, and was due to make repayments greatly in excess of his income. A further defendant, his brother, was a solicitor who was known to have been involved in mortgage fraud and was suspected of having . .
Appeal from – Environmental Technologies Inc (EPI) and Another v Symphony Plastic Technologies Plc and Another CA 26-Jan-2006
Alleged breach of trade secrets. . .
Cited – Sibley and Co v Reachbyte Ltd and Another ChD 4-Nov-2008
Solicitors appealed against a costs order made refusing them payment of all of Leading and Junior counsel’s fees.
Held: The leading counsel involved had not provided anything like a detailed account of the time he had spent on what was a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 07 September 2021; Ref: scu.220546