Increased use of database right against former employees

Abstract

Recently, several cases have arisen dealing with employees who have attempted to take confi dential information with them when leaving a job. Although departing employees are subject to a duty of confi dentiality, the case law demonstrates that this duty is extremely limited once they have left. Notably, there has been a growing trend towards employers seeking to assert infringement of database right, in addition to the more traditional breaches alleged in employment cases. The most recent cases the authors have seen demonstrate that when it comes to appropriation of database information by an ex-employee, database right is becoming an important tool in the employer ' s armoury.