Confidentiality Agreement  (Simple) – Non Disclosure Agreement

Simple Non Disclosure Agreement

A Simple Confidentiality Agreement or Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA), is a contract between two or more parties where the subject of the agreement promises that information conveyed will be maintained in secrecy.

This agreement is a  mutual agreement, where both parties are obligated to maintain secrecy, or they can be unilateral agreements, where only the receiving party becomes obligated to maintain secrecy.

Mutual confidentiality agreements are useful when both parties will be conveying confidential information, such as for inventor groups. Standard confidentiality agreements, are used when only one party is turning over confidential information.

These types of agreements are particularly useful when one is disclosing information that is valuable so long as secrecy is maintained (i.e., a trade secret), which can include both invention related information and business related information. An agreement that obligates the recipient to maintain confidentiality becomes absolutely necessary.

Indeed, you can use a nondisclosure agreement to protect any type of information that is not generally known. And the use of a confidentiality agreement means that those who receive the information are obligated to maintain the information in secret and is legally binding.

Indeed, a simple confidentiality agreement will usually seem less intimidating, but may actually provide the party disclosing the information more rights.

Agreements that create a confidential relationship are particularly useful when you have an invention and you have not yet filed a patent application. Still, if you can get a confidentiality agreement signed even after you file a patent application that is preferable.