A potential Trade Secrets Bill must contain protection for whistleblowers, recommended the Law Commission of India in a report released in March 2024. Titled “Trade Secrets and Economic Espionage,” the report outlined provisions for a proposed Trade Secrets Bill that would protect trade secrets against misappropriation and foster fair competition among businesses.
“Illegal activities cannot be exempt from the purview of law in the garb of trade secrets. Law cannot permit the use of non-disclosure agreements to discourage reporting on illegal activities,” said the report. It added that such agreements would be void under Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, as they would go against the law and public policy.
“Even where a claim for protection of trade secrets is based on the principle of equity, and where disclosure is being made to bring to light an illegal activity or contravention of law, the principle that one who comes into equity must come with clean hands would prevent such a party from getting any relief against alleged misappropriation,” the report continued.
The principles of equity are a set of legal maxims that govern fairness in law and the granting of legal remedies. “One who comes into equity must come with clean hands” is a principle that states that a party seeking legal remedies must not have engaged in wrongdoing themselves.
The report also observed that even jurisdictions like the USA, whose intellectual property and trade secret laws go beyond...
In 1995, Princess Diana made broadcasting history and shaped the future of the Royal Family when she sat down with Martin Bashir for an episode of BBC's Panorama. Three decades on, the interview c...