Medha Pushkarna, Arnav Jha & Samarth Dabas, Amity Law School, Noida
ABSTRACT
Trade secrets play an important role in protecting the interests of businesses. A trade secret is any confidential information that is not publicly known or readily available. This includes information that is the subject of a patent, copyright, or other intellectual property right. Trade secrets can be valuable assets for businesses as they are related to the financial and commercial success of a company.
In fact, trade secrets are often the key to winning competitive battles. A business that can protect its trade secrets effectively can keep its competitors at bay, and it can gain an edge over its rivals.
However, trade secrets can also be risky for businesses because they can easily be stolen by competitors. If a rival is able to get its hands on a trade secret, it can use it to its advantage in the marketplace. This is why it's important for businesses to protect their trade secrets carefully.
Unlike other countries like the United States of America where specific legislation exists to grant statutory protection to trade secrets, Indian statutes do not have separate legislation for the protection of trade secrets. However, this does not mean that there is not enough protection granted to the infringement of trade secrets. Copyright Law, Contract Law, and Information Technology Law amongst many others which have been discussed further in our article consist of stringent provisions regarding the protection of trade secrets. Such laws help in strengthening the IP legislation of India.
As students of law, through this article, we have tried to state our interpretation relating to the current scenario of the legal protection of trade secrets persisting in India. We have also investigated whether there is a need for separate legislation for trade secrets in India and if the current laws under IP legislation grant enough protection for trade secrets.
