Confidentiality Agreement: How to Protect My Ideas With an Agreement?

By Vanessa Emilio

There are a number of instances where you may want to protect your idea or other confidential information: you may be sharing with another person for the purposes of developing it further, investing or even to have someone assist in the design.

You can protect your information and your idea using a confidentiality agreement. By using an agreement (sometimes also called a non-disclosure agreement), the person who you disclose your confidential information to can then be legally prevented from sharing that information in most circumstances and you may be able to seek compensation for any loss you suffer as a result of their breach.

When you come up with an idea for a new product, you want to protect that idea so no one else can profit from it, copy it or even accidentally or carelessly disclose it without consequences. Also, in many cases if you invent or come up with a unique idea or concept, you may want to be able to discuss it to seek assistance in getting your new product off the ground. It may be that you want to seek investment into your business idea, development, marketing or other specialized skills. In order to do this, it often requires providing confidential information about your formula, trade secrets, development design, financial or other information that is not yet in the public domain and is proprietary to your business concept. The best way to protect this is by having them agree to your confidentiality requirements. There are different types of confidentiality agreements that can be used in various circumstances but even if you are only commencing discussions to see if it is worthwhile divulging further information, you should consider having them sign or agree to some form of formal confidentiality agreement.

Another instance where you may require confidentiality to be maintained is where your business has an idea that is still in its infancy and is not yet in the public domain. You want to protect it from any potential competition finding out until it is developed further. In order to develop your idea, your business may need to share this information with internal employees, external contractors or other businesses in order to have various aspects of the product or process developed. To ensure your employees, any contractors or other people who may be involved in the development or design of your product or process understand their duty of confidentiality and to ensure you have a right to recourse if any information is leaked, you can require them to sign or agree to a confidentiality agreement.

There are a variety of types of confidentiality agreements which provide differing levels of protection. Normally these depend on how much information you will be divulging. You are not well protected, for example, if you agree a short email version of a confidentiality agreement and then decide to provide a substantial amount of your secret product or development. You need to judge how much and what level of protection to put in place to match the level your discussions may go to.

Overall, confidentiality agreements can provide a way for you to be able to discuss your idea, concept, secret or any sensitive information you wish to keep private and not have discussed without your consent. It can give you confidence that the people you are divulging your secrets to understand their duty of confidentiality and also, if there is a breach of confidentiality, you have recourse. Without a confidentiality agreement you may lose your idea, your concept and your right to claim it as your own. It's a quick and easy way to protect yourself so do not take the chance-agree a confidentiality agreement first!

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Legal123 Confidentiality Agreement. Australian legal agreements and forms fromhttp://www.Legal123.com.au.

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