Damages for breach of the equitable duty of confidence

Abstract

Protection of confidential information has two main juridical bases, contract and equity. Where the defendant is or was the employee or agent of the plaintiff he may be subject to an express or implied contractual duty not to use the latter’s confidential information without his consent Other defendants who receive such information knowing or believing it to be confidential, either from the plaintiff himself or a thiid party, may be subject to an equitable duty of like kindThe purpose of this article is to examine the range and scope of compensatory remedies for breach of the equitable duty of confidence. The term ‘damages’ is sometimes used generically to describe these remedies which are several and different from one another in certain respects? albeit difficult to pinpoint exactly.