Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editors' preface
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Abbreviations
- Note on translations of foreign language statutory provisions
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Case studies
- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop
- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease
- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold
- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise; parallel negotiations
- Case 5 A broken engagement
- Case 6 An express lock-out agreement
- Case 7 Breakdown of merger negotiations
- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant
- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend
- Case 10 Public bidding
- Case 11 A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality
- Case 12 Confidential design information given during negotiations
- Case 13 Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity
- 3 From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel
- 4 A law and economics perspective on precontractual liability
- 5 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Case 12 - Confidential design information given during negotiations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editors' preface
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Abbreviations
- Note on translations of foreign language statutory provisions
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Case studies
- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop
- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease
- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold
- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise; parallel negotiations
- Case 5 A broken engagement
- Case 6 An express lock-out agreement
- Case 7 Breakdown of merger negotiations
- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant
- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend
- Case 10 Public bidding
- Case 11 A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality
- Case 12 Confidential design information given during negotiations
- Case 13 Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity
- 3 From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel
- 4 A law and economics perspective on precontractual liability
- 5 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Case 12
A is a major manufacturer of computers. B, who has recently established his business of design and manufacture of computer components, approaches him and tells him that he has designed a new form of computer chip which will allow hand-held computers to be produced to run at twice the current speed. A tells B that he is interested in the details, because he may wish to introduce the chip into his new model of computers, and they begin negotiations with a view to contracting for B to manufacture the computer chips for A. During the negotiations A asks for, and B gives, information about the detail of the design of the computer chip which A says he needs in order to evaluate whether the chip will be suitable for his computers. The design is not yet protected by any intellectual property rights (such as patent). After some time, A says that the price B is proposing is too high, and breaks off the negotiations; he then approaches C, asking C to produce the same kind of computer chip at a lower price than B had been asking. A passes on to C the design information he had received from B. C agrees to produce the chips, and a contract is formed between A and C for their production. What liability (in contract, tort, restitution, or any other form of liability), if any, does A have to B?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Precontractual Liability in European Private Law , pp. 336 - 361Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009