When you have an exciting and innovative idea, chances are that you'll need to tell someone about it, whether it is a manufacturer, business partner, or financier. To protect your concept, at least to some degree, you can draft a confidentiality agreement, also called a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.

Contents

A confidentiality agreement contains the names and addresses of both parties, and a detailed list of the information that the new party cannot disclose. It also details the legal recourse that the information provider can take if the agreement is violated.

Purpose

A confidentiality agreement will protect patents, sensitive data, technical data, and unique proprietary information that is unknown to the general public. It protects the inventor in case someone else implements the idea and the inventor can prove that the other party on the confidentiality agreement was responsible for the information leak.

Time Period

The agreement has to define a time period, including the starting date and end date, during which the other party cannot disclose the information.

Applications

These contracts are commonly drafted and used by inventors, writers, pharmaceutical professionals and scientists, who frequently come up with fresh new concepts to present to the world.

Considerations

A poorly drafted confidentiality agreement could cause an inventor to be on the losing side of a lawsuit. In many cases, a trusted lawyer who is knowledgeable about intellectual property laws should draft the form.

Source:

JOM Journal; Understanding Confidentiality Agreements; David V. Radack