Sea Manufacturing Limited (the "Company") was a company engaged in the manufacturing of utensils. Recently, the Company invented a new tea cup having a packet with a filter for tea materials (the "Tea Cup"). The Tea Cup had a functional shape achieved with a V-like-shaped base which enabled the cup to be placed in two separate standing positions one for brewing and another neutral position for drinking the tea. The Company created a brand name "YOO CUP" for the Tea Cup.

Earlier this year, Tim, the head designer of the Tea Cup, resigned and worked for the Company's competitor, XYZ Manufacturing Limited (the "Competitor"). Tim revealed the trade secret behind the method of manufacturing the Tea Cup to the Competitor so that the Competitor sold a similar tea cup. The Competitor also adopted a brand name "WOO CUP" and established two websites known as "www.woocup.hk" and "www.woocup.com.hk".

The Company worried that Tim was an independent contractor of the Company (no employment contract was signed) so that the Company wondered whether the Company was able to get an injunction prohibiting Tim from sharing the method of manufacturing the Tea Cup with the Competitor and an injunction prohibiting the Competitor from selling a competing product.

REQUIRED:

Critically identify the issues of intellectual property (IP) rights and evaluate the legal implication of IP rights to address the identified issues. Make all necessary assumptions where necessary. (Note: Refer to relevant case law, where appropriate, to support the evaluation of the case)