SITUATION IN INDIA IN THE ABSENCE OF A CODIFIED TRADE SECRET LAW

Abstract

India has separate laws for patents, copyright, trademarks and designs. It has no separate law for trade secrets. This paper looks at what happens because of this gap. It explains the laws that are used today to protect trade secrets. These are contract law, the rule of confidence made by judges, civil court procedure, criminal law, the IT Act and copyright law. Each of them covers only a part of the problem. The paper then shows how this affects businesses, employees, important sectors and India's trade with other countries. Indian law already has clear rules for government secrets, personal data and stock market information. Business secrets do not have such rules. From 15 July 2026, the India–UK trade agreement requires India to protect secret business information. The Law Commission prepared a draft Bill in 2024, but Parliament has not passed it. The paper finds that the present system is unclear, costly and uneven. It ends with suggestions for now and for a future law.