Seager v. Copydex Ltd., [1967] 1 W.L.R. 923 (Eng. C.A.) dealt with a case where after negotiations to manufacture a patented grip failed, the defendants manufactured a similar carpet grip in circumstances where the court held they unconsciously used confidential information given to them by the inventor. Lord Denning said this: The difficulty arises when the information is in part public and in part private...When the information is mixed, being partly public and partly private, then the recipient must take special care to use only the material which is in the public domain. He should go to the public source and get it: or at any rate, not be in a better position than if he had gone to the public source. He should not get a head start over others by using the information which he received in confidence. At any rate, he should not get a start without paying for it.
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