Re: Protecting Research at Common Law?

> If I have some employees who are working in Computer R&D and leave
> my employ to work for an x-senior Manager-Director of my Company.
>
> Also...
>
> i) Assume I have no written employment contract with any of them.
>
> ii) They decided to leave and join the 'ex-senior' in his similar
> venture months prior to leaving.
>
> iii) before they left, they tried to glean as much info about
> research project as possible but did not physically remove or copy
> any information.
>
> How would the common-law handle this scenario?

My answer is based on English law, but a presuem that the situation in Canada is similar.

There is a duty of non-disclosure of confidential information emposed upon an employee, under common law. The limitations of this principle might be uncler but, as put forward by Lord Greene in Saltman Engineering v Campell Engineering ([1963] 3 All ER 413):

    If a defendant is proved to have used confidential information, directly or indirectly obtained from the plaintiff without a onsent, express or implied, he will be guilty of an infringement of the plaintiff's rights

The problem seems to be to define the limits of confidential information. This implied term of confidentiallity does not protect any general knowledge or skill. There has to be some special knowledge and there has to be some elements of secrecy.

There is some case law in the field...

Morten S Hagedal

Amanuensis i juridiske fag        |  Lecturer in law
Trondheim \konomiske H|yskole     |  Trondheim College of
                                     Economics and
                                     Business Administration