I-Admin (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Hong Ying Ting
[2020] SGCA 32
requirement that plaintiffs must show unauthorised use of their materials and
resulting detriment has come under increased scrutiny. There may often be
circumstances where defendants wrongfully access or acquire confidential
information but do not use or disclose the same. Nevertheless, their actions
compromise the confidentiality of the information in question. In such
circumstances, why should the courts not have the power to grant relief?
44
These considerations are at the forefront of the present claim for breach
of confidence. The appellant submits that the respondent’s mere possession of
and their act of referring to its confidential materials is sufficient to complete
the cause of action for breach of confidence. The respondents wrongfully
accessed, downloaded and circulated the appellant’s materials which they knew
to be confidential in character. The Judge also found that the materials were
referenced and reviewed by the respondents for their own purposes (GD at
[123]). These acts undermined the appellant’s desire to maintain the
confidentiality of its materials. We note that unlike the lower level claim of
copyright infringement, this argument was specifically pleaded. It is unclear
why the Judge considered otherwise (GD at [124]). The amended Statement of
Claim particularised the fact that the respondents had “referenced” the
appellant’s confidential information “to develop [their] source codes, systems
[and] materials”. It is also apparent from the Judge’s findings that this point was
explicitly canvassed before him. The respondents therefore cannot claim there
has been a change in position.
45
The appellant’s argument for a modern approach prompts the question
of whether the current law of confidence is sufficiently broad to encompass the
myriad of ways in which confidentiality might be undermined. There are three
considerations this court should have in mind in answering this:
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