A common example of
implied
confidentiality obligation is employment context. All employees, if disclose info, is misapp.
o
Two methods of acquiring trade secrets that are NOT
misappropriation
Independent development:
if someone else develops the same knowledge on its own
Reverse engineering
: if someone disassembles and works backwards to discover the trade secret
Or the information is found in a product
o
Smith v. Snap-On Tools Corp.
The investor (plaintiff) neither patented or kept it confidential. He voluntarily offered it to a tool company (D) stating it would be
compensation enough if some day he saw Defendant sell his invention. Defendant began selling and made a lot of money.
Plaintiff sued for trade secret misappropriate. But lost because he voluntarily conveyed the information to Defendant without demanding or
requesting confidentiality
o
Integrated Cash Management Services v. Digital Transactions, (235)
Mistakes:
being ignorant of the law is not a mistake; just because you are not aware of the law, doesn’t mean you can break it;
Mistake of fact:
30
Technically a crime, but it’s not? At a party and you take a cellphone that isn’t yours but looks like it; you weren’t trying to steal someone’s phone; locksmith with a
car that looks like yours;
Entrapment: occurs when a law enforcement officer creates an opportunity for you to commit a crime that you wouldn’t have committed otherwise
undercover cop coming up to you at a party offering to sell you some drugs; then you actually buy them and cops show up
ignorance and stupidity don’t count here
If both parties are mistaken as to a material fact, either party can rescind the contract
If only one person is mistaken it is unlikely the contract will be rescinded
A doubt isn’t the same as a mistake
Mistake of law:
What is valid: 2 types
o
Nobody knows what the law is; not just you, if you were to ask around in society and no one knows, then you could have a mistake of law
o
Law enforcement tells you something that is wrong; you get bad info from someone who should be giving you good info;
Modification contract:
Alters the terms of the first contract
In order for it to be valid we need to have the usual consideration requirements
Exception comes from UCC….
The modification must be made in good faith
Modification must be unconscionable
Moral Codes:
Moral codes tend to have:
o
Negative appraisals of harm to others
o
Values pertaining to fairness
o
Requirements concerning behaving in a way that fits status in social hierarchy
o
Regulations concerning bodily matters (sex, hygiene, etc.)
Moral Distance:
The farther a person is located from the impact of the action, the easier it is to act immoral
Moral Dumbfound:
Dogmatic insistence on a moral judgement for which no good reason can be given
Snap moral judgements that cannot be explained intellectually
Evidence that evolution has played a significant role in many of our moral beliefs
