Does Your Business Need an NDA?

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA), also known as confidentiality agreements, are used to protect a business’s proprietary information. An NDA is a legally binding contract between a business and another party who agree to keep specific information, such as patents, recipes, marketing research and trade secrets, confidential. The definition in the NDA needs to be as specific as possible, but without disclosing any confidential information. Typically, an NDA is between an employer and employee, but a business may also ask for one in a transaction with another business.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement should (at a minimum) include the following elements:

• Identification of the parties
• Confidential information to be protected
• The confidentiality obligation
• Any exclusions from confidential treatment
• Consequences of breach
• Duration of agreement

To maintain a competitive advantage, businesses must keep working projects, innovative ideas and other information that is imperative to their success confidential. If your business relies on confidential information for its success, you may benefit from an NDA.