TRADE SECRETS AND INNOVATION PROTECTION

Abstract

In India, protecting trade secrets is important for encouraging innovation and economic growth in its rapidly expanding industries. Although no particular laws that control trade secrets are established, this puts India in a different position of challenges and opportunities to the business and law professionals. This chapter reviews several issues about protection of trade secrets in India. It focuses on the available legal regulations, interpretation of the law by the court and contracts that interrelate to guard confidential business information. It also considers the way this legal environment impacts innovation and competitive advantages, and avoiding unfair competition in reference to the international practice. This analysis examines the application in the protection of the trade secrets by the common law principles and laws such as the Information Technology Act of 2000 and the Indian Contract Act of 1872 which apply to the protection such as the act proves individually although not a direct wording and a set of rules. The argument about the use of non disclosure and employment contracts to secure proprietary information is also discussed with reference to more techno savvy face of the industry. Moreover, it puts a focus on how Indian legal system is attempting to hue the conflicting interests in the business segments towards the right of people to free competition and knowledge exchange. Evaluating the effectiveness of existing enforcement procedures, the chapter proposes improvement of the laws basing on international trade secrets laws, some of which treat trade secrets as the key assets in the knowledge economy, like the one issued in the year 2016 as Directive No. 2016/943.