Treasuring The Secret: Need For IP Based Protection To Trade Secrets In India

Protection of trade secret has hitherto been a neglected area in the field of intellectual property. Notwithstanding the TRIPS mandate to protect undisclosed information; jurisdictions across the world have been reluctant in according Intellectual Property (IP) based protection to trade secrets. Many countries however punish serious violation of trade secrets under their criminal laws.¹ In India, trade secret protection has mostly been enforced on the basis of contractual relationship between the parties and has evolved through judicial pronouncements in the absence of specific statutory protection. However in a highly competitive digitized era there is an immediate need for providing adequate protection to trade secrets with clear cut statutory guidelines not only to facilitate effective conduct of the business but also to regulate employer-employee relations. Also an effective trade secret regime with flexible procedural formalities and less rigorous standards of