Further Update on the Suit against Priscilla Lim Suk Ling and UrbanRx Compounding Pharmacy
Summons No 1589 of 2023
On August 31, 2023, a judgment was reached by Judge Dedar Singh Gill of the High Court of Singapore regarding the case of Amber Compounding Pharmacy vs Priscilla Lim Suk Ling, UrbanRx Compounding Pharmacy and her co-defendants.
Amber Compounding Pharmacy has an existing consent judgment against the defendants where they had admitted to breach of confidence, copying confidential documents from the plaintiffs and using the confidential information and/or trade secrets.
Amber Compounding Pharmacy’s position is that the defendants had or have been:
(a) attempting to communicate with and solicit business from contacts listed in Amber Compounding Pharmacy’s confidential list of clients; and
(b) revealing confidential information of Amber Compounding Pharmacy to a third party.
The sole issue for the judge was to decide whether or not Amber Compounding Pharmacy was entitled to claim that both its wrongful gain interest AND wrongful loss interest were infringed by the defendant.
Definitions
Wrongful gain interest: the interest in preventing the wrongful gain or profit by a wrongdoer from the innocent party’s confidential information.
Wrongful loss interest: the interest that the innocent party has to avoid suffering wrongful loss, which is loss suffered so long as the conscience of the wrongdoer has been impacted in the breach of confidence.
In his conclusion, the judge decided that Amber Compounding Pharmacy is entitled to claim that BOTH its wrongful gain interest AND wrongful loss interest have been infringed by the defendants.
The judge reasoned that there was no conflicting binding precedent and that the Court of Appeal had a rationale for declaring the existence of both the wrongful loss and wrongful gain interests in breach of confidence cases.
Amber Compounding Pharmacy will continue with the assessment of the damages payable by the defendants under the consent judgment against them.