The springboard doctrine affects the obligations of confidentiality covering technical information, particularly where a product to which that information relates has been put on the market. The ‘springboard’ doctrine, as originally formulated, derives from the decision in Terrapin Ltd v Builders’ Supply Co (Hayes) Ltd1, where it was found that the defendant’s employee could not have avoided, when embarking on a new design for the defendant’s version of a portable building, starting with the confidential information provided by the claimant to the defendant. As regards whether there remained an obligation of confidence after the claimant had published a brochure of the building describing its features, the judge found2:
‘As I understand it, the essence of this branch of the law, whatever the origin of it may be, is that a person who has