Template:Confi injunctions: Difference between revisions

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The argument runs that it might be hard to prove that you’ve lost any money as a result of a confidentiality breach, so you want to be sure that [[equitable remedies]] like [[injunction]]s ordering the other guy to keep his mouth shut – those, under English law, that do not technically arise under the law of contract – are available to you.  
The argument runs that it might be hard to prove that you’ve lost any money as a result of a confidentiality breach, so you want to be sure that [[equitable remedies]] like [[injunction]]s ordering the other guy to keep his mouth shut – those, under English law, that do not technically arise under the law of contract – are available to you.  


In theory, this makes sense: one enters a confidentiality agreement to buy another man’s silence, whether or not there are gains or losses to be had from his doing so — but in practice, it is largely nonsense — who ever sought an injunction on a confi? The better question to ask, we think, is ''why'' [[contractual damages]] are often an “inadequate” remedy/ Why? Because it is quite hard to prove [[loss]] through simple disclosure of {{confiprov|confidential information}}. And ''why'' is it hard to prove that [[loss]]? Because, often, ''there won’t have been any''.  
In theory, this makes sense: one enters a confidentiality agreement to buy another man’s silence, whether or not there are gains or losses to be had from his doing so — but in practice, it is largely nonsense — who ever sought an injunction on a confi? The better question to ask, we think, is ''why'' [[contractual damages]] are often an “inadequate” remedy/ Why? Because it is quite hard to prove [[loss]] through simple disclosure of {{confiprov|confidential information}}. And ''why'' is it hard to prove that [[loss]]? Because, often, ''there won’t have been any''.
 
Contractual damages generally compensate for actual loss, not to account for profits. If you can say you've suffered any [[loss]] from, say, disclosure of client lists, it will be [[Consequential loss|consequential]] in nature, sufficiently speculative that courts are traditionally reluctant to award it, also presenting as it does uncomfortable questions as to [[causation]]: Was the reason you lost all that business to a competitor because your client list was disclosed, or because your product was inferior?

Revision as of 10:53, 14 October 2020

The argument runs that it might be hard to prove that you’ve lost any money as a result of a confidentiality breach, so you want to be sure that equitable remedies like injunctions ordering the other guy to keep his mouth shut – those, under English law, that do not technically arise under the law of contract – are available to you.

In theory, this makes sense: one enters a confidentiality agreement to buy another man’s silence, whether or not there are gains or losses to be had from his doing so — but in practice, it is largely nonsense — who ever sought an injunction on a confi? The better question to ask, we think, is why contractual damages are often an “inadequate” remedy/ Why? Because it is quite hard to prove loss through simple disclosure of confidential information. And why is it hard to prove that loss? Because, often, there won’t have been any.

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