According to paragraph 297 of the Secretariat Report: "India has no specific legislation regulating the protection of trade secrets; hence enforcement measures/penalties for violations of trade secrets are available through common law. Trade secrets are protected either through contract law or through the equitable doctrine of breach of confidentiality. The Indian Contract Act (Section 27) provides some sort of limited protection as it bars any person from disclosing information acquired as a result of a contract. It is also common to insert a confidentiality clause in a technology transfer or other licence agreement to maintain the confidential nature of the subject matter, not only during the employment period of the employees and contractors but also after its termination, though for a fixed period. Aggrieved parties may seek action through the civil courts by obtaining an injunction preventing a third party from disclosing the trade secrets, return of all confidential information and proprietary information, and compensation for any loss suffered due to disclosure of trade secrets."
Bearing in mind that Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement establishes that for confidential information to be subject to protection it must possess three characteristics, namely that it "(a) is secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly […], generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question; (b) has commercial value because it is secret; and (c) has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret":
14. How does India ensure the consistency of its domestic legislation with the aforementioned conditions? Does its domestic legislation include these characteristics?
