Maggbury Pty Ltd v Hafele Australia Pty Ltd

Contract – Confidential information – Contractual restraint upon use of "Information" – Restraint expressed to be perpetual – Information disclosed in patent application – Proper construction of contract – Whether restraint to apply once information disclosed to public – Whether contract in restraint of trade.

Restraint of trade – Contractual restraint upon use of information concerning invention – Whether confidentiality agreement constitutes an unenforceable contractual restriction on trade – Whether the restraint imposed is more than that required to protect the interests of the parties.

Injunction – Confidentiality agreement between inventor and potential marketer – Substantial copying of invention found contrary to agreement – Whether injunction granted unacceptably wide – Whether injunction would involve excessive supervision by court – Permissible scope and duration of injunctive relief.

Words and phrases – "quality of confidence".