trade secret laws in Ireland

Carawaystick

Are there any laws ( or info on the laws) regarding trade secrets being disclosed by a third party?

I'm thinking of where a person finds some company's document marked company confidential somewhere. Is that person under any obligation to keep the info confidential?

I'm assuming there's no personal info that the data protection act might cover.

eagle_&_bear

Interesting little piece on 'trade secrets' from a FOI (freedom of information) perspective http://www.finance.irlgov.ie/Viewprnt.asp?DocID=850&StartDate=01+January+2010

Its a good read and gives a good background to why we have a 'trade secrets' clause. These clauses are validly upheld in Court but would have to be fought- pretty much on the same grounds as are laid out here.

the case of Faccenda Chicken Ltd v Fowler [1986] 3 WLR 288; [1987] Ch 117 is highly relevant here, however it deals with the matter from an employment perspective.

As to whether a non-party to the information could reveal it: it would depend on the type of information. Typically confidential material will have a disclaimer on all the pages which would include a returnable address and/or contact number with a reward structure for returning it. Also it should say that this document can not be reproduced etc. Technically, it would be the copyright of the owner so the person who would publish it could find themselves on the wrong end of a breach of copyright

you might want to look at the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (As amended). As a civil matter, the standard would be 'what the reasonable man would think in the given scenario', and if the reasonable man would comprehend that the information was commercially/non-commercially sensitive and normally would not be revealed and contained the words 'private and confidential' then it should not be revealed. This would be further backed up with a disclaimer and returnable address/contact details for reward - it'd be hard to see how the accidental release of the information could give that non-party a right to publish.

Carawaystick

The fact the DOF page relies on American and English & Welsh law, seems to imply there's no statute about trade secrets in Ireland.

Obviously copyright materiel is copyrighted, but only that fixed expression - and if it were lists of things/places/etc. it wouldn't be copyright.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the idea contained in the trade secret. In USian law, there are certain protections to trade secrets but they're less than patents a you've to disclose your idea to be granted a patent (and everyone can use it in 20 years)

the search term 'trade secret' on statutebook.ie - only has mention of trade secrets in the context of state employees not disclosing trade secrets. Including when they inspect properties under the charmingly titled "Air Raid Precautions Act"

sh_o

Have a look at Paul Lavery's book: Commercial Secrets: The Action for Breach of Confidence in Ireland (Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell, 1996)
which covers this.