United Kingdom: Trade Secrets

The Court of Appeal has clarified the meaning of "public domain" in non-disclosure agreements, holding that professionally drafted NDAs use this term in its established legal sense to mean information generally accessible to the public. The decision provides crucial guidance on how courts will interpret confidentiality exceptions and what level of disclosure actually strips information of its protected status.

Trade secrets represent a powerful yet often overlooked form of intellectual property protection that can provide indefinite competitive advantage without formal registration. Understanding what qualifies as a trade secret, how to effectively protect confidential business information, and when to choose trade secret protection over patents requires careful strategic consideration and robust internal management systems.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court finding of breach of confidence and misuse of trade secrets in Illiquidx Ltd v Altana Wealth & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 874. In doing so it rejected the arguments that information loses protection because some of its constituent elements were already publicly available.

The UPC's Court of Appeal (CoA) has issued a decision dealing with the issue of protection of trade secrets and confidential information in UPC proceedings (EOFlow v Insulet UPC_CoA_930/2025, 18 March 2026).

Protecting your business from competitive threats is vital. Losing a team or a key employee to a competitor can be extremely damaging.

The Unified Patent Court's Court of Appeal has reinforced critical procedural requirements for protecting confidential information and trade secrets in patent litigation.

An IP Audit is a process which looks at the material IP owned and used by your startup. Most businesses will only carry out an IP Audit in preparation for a funding round or an exit, but the best time to start your IP Audit is at an early stage.

Victory for InterDigital, Nokia, Huawei, Google, Qualcomm and LG in Optis v Apple standard essential patent (SEP) and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) dispute

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform healthcare, from diagnostic imaging and drug discovery to wearable devices and clinical decision support, questions around how to protect these advancements...