Israel has enacted a new unfair competition law which for the first time establishes that trade secrets are a form of property so that their misuse may be actionable even in the absence of a contract. The act defines a trade secret as being information of commercial value which is not readily available and which the proprietor maintains as confidential. Under the act there is a rebuttable presumption that any one who has had access to a trade secret and is found to be using it or similar information has misappropriated it.

The new law also makes actionable the release of commercial misinformation about a competitor's business and extends the concept of passing off to services.