In the UK, the law of confidential information has been built up
over many years and existed, until very recently, in a mixture of a
carefully developed body of common law and a parallel equitable
obligation of confidence. The law was formalised, in legislation
for the first time, by way of Directive 2016/943 (Trade Secrets
Directive), which was implemented in the UK in 2018.
The case of Trailfinders Ltd v Travel Counsellors Ltd and
others [2020] EWHC 591 was the first time the Trade
Secrets Directive was considered by an English judge, although the
judgment relied heavily on the established English case law in this
area.
The case involved a classic scenario of employees leaving their
employer and setting up a competing business – a scenario
which previous case law has addressed many times. Specifically,
Trailfinders' former employees set up a competing Travel
Counsellors Ltd ("TCL") franchise. TCL did not supply new
franchisees with potential customers- they were
