Confidentiality agreements are legally binding contracts between a business and its employees or contractors that prevents all included parties from sharing or profiting from confidential information. Also called a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), a confidentiality clause or statement, a proprietary information agreement (PIA), or a secrecy agreement (SA), this signed document is most commonly used by businesses to ensure certain sensitive information remains private. Such information can include but are not limited to:
- Trade secrets
- Proprietary software
- Recipes
- Secret formulas
- Copyrights
- Scientific information
- Manufacturing processes
- Concepts for future products or services
- Sales plans
- Unpublished patent applications
- Prototypes and samples
- Client lists, contracts, and business relationships
A well-drafted confidentiality agreement should set the standards for how information is handled and what each party’s responsibilities are, as well as lay the groundwork for legal action should the agreement be breached. The information protected by a confidentiality agreement sets one or both parties apart. Therefore, the agreement must clearly state the information it protects.
Halpern & Scrom has the experience necessary to draft confidentiality agreements that legally protects your business’s intellectual property and other proprietary information from being leaked to the public or to competitors.