The central legal point established in the judgment is the importance of upholding non-disclosure agreements and preventing unauthorized use of confidential information to protect the interests of businesses.

The suit is filed for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from in any manner infringing the Copyright of the plaintiff company over the “QUBE” software and also for permanent injunction from breaching the “Employee Non-Competition, Non-Disclosure and Proprietary Information Agreement” dated 22.05.2006 entered into between the plaintiff company and the defendant.

2. The brief facts of the case of the plaintiff company are as follows:

The plaintiff company is in the business of providing digital cinema solutions to various cinema theatres/multiplexes/screens in malls within India and outside. The plaintiff has pioneered several technology revolutions over the last 25 years. It has helped in Indian cinema leapfrog a generation, from mono sound directly to digital sound. With its “QUBE CINEMA” end-to-end digital cinema product line, the first Indian company to play a pioneering role in this transformation, the plaintiff has made an impact worldwide with over 2,500 systems installed in 26 countries. The plaintiff “Qube” has been installed, many parts of the country. The nature of the plaintiff company business is not only specialized and sensitive, but is also competitive, with intellectual property being critical to provide a competitive business advantage. The defendant was appointed as a Software Engineer by the plaintiff company on 24.4.2002 with certain terms and conditions. Thereafter, on 01.6.2004, the defendant was promoted to the post of “Software Engineer – Lead”.

2.1. According to the plaintiff company, the defendant was later sent to U.S.A. on work by the plaintiff company and he was also sent to various conferences and workshops which enable him to gain more knowledge and to improve his performance. Pursuant to the policy of the plaintiff company, aimed at safeguarding the plaintiff's interests, all employees of the plaintiff company were required to execute an “Employee Non-Competition, Non Disclosure and Proprietary Information Agreement” principally due to the nature of the business of the plaintiff company, especially with regard to intellectual properties and the need to maintain confidentiality and to prevent infringement/theft thereof. Such agreement was executed between the plaintiff company and the defendant on 22.05.2006. According to the terms agreed upon by the plaintiff company and the defendant, the employee will not engage in the actions prohibited in Clause (i) through directly or indirectly, or being associated with any person or entity as owner, partner, employee, agent, consultant, direction, officer, stockholder or any other capacity or manner whatever.

2.2. Whileso, the defendant submitted a letter to relieve him from the services of the plaintiff company on 27.11.2010 on the ground of personal reasons and the same was accepted by the plaintiff company on 12.01.2011. In the said acceptance letter, specific mention was made with regard to the Employee Non-Competition, Non-Disclosure and Proprietary Information Agreement. Further exit interview was conducted by the plaintiff on 11.01.2011 and the contents of the aforementioned agreement was also brought to the notice of the defendant on the said date. The defendant also confirmed the same by letter dated 12.01.2011.

2.3. It is the case of the plaintiff that a Corporate group by name, Prasad Group is engaged inter alia in the business similar to that of the plaintiff company. The plaintiff company and the said Prasad Group are healthy competitors. When the defendant, was leading the plaintiff company, the defendant was seen in the office premises of the said Prasad Group during the first week of February. The plaintiff company is also the registered owner of the “Qube Software” and the software features are invaluable product differentiator for the plaintiff company. It is the apprehension of the plaintiff company that the defend