Confidentiality Agreement

You like to keep things casual. But you want to keep them secret. So, you might be dating someone with the agreement that you’ll be both no-strings...and confidential.

Sadly, that verbal agreement isn’t legally enforceable. But if you want to keep things about your company secret, and prevent employees from leaving and discussing your trade secrets, you’ll want them to sign a confidentiality agreement.

You might have signed a confidentiality agreement before an interview with a new company, starting work as a contractor, or when you start a new job. Also called a non-disclosure agreement or NDA, it obligates someone to keep confidential information from being shared. A confidentiality agreement might also be part of a startup, where employees aren’t allowed to babble about the firm’s ideas for a new product. Or worse...to leave the firm and copy the idea.

Example:

Let's say Larry belongs to an inventors' club and wants to get feedback on a new type of toaster he came up with. Since others might be sharing their inventions too, all will sign a mutual confidentiality agreement. A unilateral agreement would be used when Larry is speaking with a potential investor. Think of it as protection for your secrets.