The law of trade secrets is purely judge-made law. The basic elements of the cause of action are:

●    the claimant is in possession of information that is important and not in the public domain, or that is private;

●    the claimant imparts that information to someone else in conditions that place that person under a duty of confidence in relation to it, or someone obtains that information in circumstances where they should realize that it is confidential;

●    the recipient of the information misuses it or threatens to misuse it, misuse being to publish the information or make use of it.

The law has developed into separate strands with their own particular rules:

●    the basic law relating to trade secrets;

●    special provisions relating to the conduct of employees and ex-employees;

●    a separate branch of the law dealing with private and personal information.