The bankrupt, against whom a receiving order had been made, had carried on business in the manufacture and sale in England, France and America of proprietary articles made according to secret formulas invented by him and his brother with whom he was in partnership. At his public examination he was required to disclose these formulas in writing to his trustee. The bankrupt and his brother had each of them agreed not to disclose the secret. Upon the dissolution of the partnership the bankrupt retained the assets and goodwill of the business in England and America, while his brother continued to carry it on in France. The formulas had never been committed to writing. The bankrupt refused to disclose them on the ground that they existed only in his brain as the result of his skill and capacity, and that to disclose them would be a breach of this agreement with his brother.
Held: The formulas were part of the Goodwill and assets of the business and he was bound to communicate them to his trustee.
91 LJ Ch 484, [1922] 2 Ch 475, 127 LT 831, 35 TLR 663, 66 Sol Jo 503, [1922] B and CR 103
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – In Re Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd HL 9-Feb-1989
The plaintiffs had applied for a product licence for a patented drug. To support its application, it supplied the authority with confidential information which the authority now sought to make use of the confidential information when considering . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Insolvency, Intellectual Property
Updated: 28 November 2021; Ref: scu.182805