Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

8.   Unfair competition in respect of trade secrets

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   (1)   An act or practice, in the course of industrial or commercial activities, that results in the disclosure, acquisition or use by others of trade secrets without the consent of the person lawfully in control of that information and in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices which constitute an act of unfair competition.

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   (2)   Disclosure, acquisition or use of trade secrets by others without the consent of the rightful holder may, in particular, result from—

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      (a)     industrial or commercial espionage;

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      (b)     breach of contract;

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      (c)     breach of confidence;

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      (d)     inducement to commit any of the acts referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c);

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      (e)     acquisition of a trade secret by a third party who knew, or was grossly negligent in failing to know, that an act referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) was involved in the acquisition.

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   (3)   For the purposes of this section, information shall be considered “a trade secret” if—

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      (a)     it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question;

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      (b)     it has commercial value because it is a trade secret; and

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      (c)     the rightful owner has, under the circumstances of the particular case, taken reasonable steps to keep it secret.

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   (4)   Any act or practice, in the course of industrial or commercial activities, shall be considered an act of unfair competition if it consists or results in—

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      (a)     an unfair commercial use of secret test or other data, the origination of which involves considerable effort and which have been submitted to a competent authority for the purposes of obtaining approval of the marketing of pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical products which utilise new chemical entities; or

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      (b)     the disclosure of such data, except—

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         (i)     where necessary to protect the public, and

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         (ii)     where steps are taken to ensure that the data are protected against unfair commercial use.

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   (5)   In this section “rightful holder” means the person lawfully in control of information referred to in subsection (1).