UK: Trade Secrets Directive

Draft Regulations which will implement the EU Trade Secrets Directive have been published and are expected to come into force by 9 June 2018. The Regulations include a statutory definition of “trade secret” and provide for trade secret cases to be held in private, with limited access to the confidential documents in the case, set out the factors to be considered when awarding compensation, and impose limitation periods for trade secret cases. The Regulations do not make any changes to the rules around post-termination restrictive covenants, which remain a matter for UK national law.