The courts have instead tended to consider a number of factors which point to the existence of an obligation of confidentiality.

A time clause (dies) is a contractual term which makes the existence of an obligation dependent on an event or time that is certain to arise in the future.

Ordinary repudiation occurs when the obligation is already owing, as in the case of an illegitimate claim (malifide) or a declaration that one cannot perform, or a denial that the contract is binding on the denier, or a denial of the existence of an obligation.