The Principle of Maintaining Confidentiality in the Negotiations of International Trade Contracts: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The obligation to maintain the confidentiality of information and technical knowledge is an important restriction in the negotiations of international trade contracts, which the negotiation parties are keen on, whether the negotiations lead to the conclusion of the final contract or not.

Confidentiality does not mean that the negotiations are not public and are kept secret, but rather the confidentiality of the technical, engineering or chemical information which is accessible to the negotiator.

Nowadays, the negotiations of international contracts are about matters of technical and technological nature, and therefore, in order to initiate, continue and reach to a final agreement in the negotiations of international contracts, many secrets must be revealed by one of the parties to the other, on matters of a technical and technological nature or secrets related to the financial position and the volume of commercial and economic transactions of one of the parties. And this obligation provides an effective guarantee and protects the rights of the negotiating parties, especially if the negotiations fail.  in cases where secret ideas are negotiated, the law does not guarantee a special protection by their nature, such as patents or trademarks and trade names