Force India in the Court of Appeal – a winning formula?

The Court of Appeal in Force India has recently provided some helpful guidance on breach of confidence in the commercial arena1.

Clarification was provided on:

• what should be protected when employees' own skill and knowledge has been enhanced by confidential information they have been given
• whether a party can take advantage of the public domain defence when he has not, in fact, obtained information from the public domain
• on which party the burden lies when seeking to take advantage of exceptions to a contractual definition of confidential information
• when equity may assist where the parties have a contract in place
• the scope of the confidential information to which the Wrotham Park hypothetical bargain² relates.

It also provides a useful reminder of the rules relating to repudiation of a contract, the admissibility of hearsay evidence and the narrow basis on which the Court of Appeal can revisit the underlying facts.

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1. Force India Formula One Team Limited v Aerolab SRL and others [2013] EWCA CIV 780 dated 3 July 2013.
2. Wrotham Park Estate Co Ltd v Parkside Homes Ltd [1974] 1 WLR 798