Recent Decision Affirms Significant Protections for Confidential Information in United Kingdom

With the increasing number of disputes and client queries regarding confidential information in the United Kingdom, the recent case of Personnel Hygiene Services Ltd & ors v. Rentokil Initial UK Ltd , EWCA Civ 29, 29 January 2014, serves as a useful reminder of the extensive protection of confidential information. 

The Court of Appeal, considered whether the obligations under a confidentiality agreement continued to apply after the parties entered into a second agreement which contained no such express obligations. The court upheld the first instance decision, finding that the confidentiality obligations continued to apply to protect trade secrets ( in this case, information relating to customers and services).  Although not a landmark decision, this may seem a surprising judgment , particularly as the second agreement contained an entire agreement clause which would usually be interpreted as replacing all previous contractual arrangements. The court made no reference  to this point in the judgment. 

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