When you work as a business owner, you will likely deal with confidential information at some point. Whether this information includes secretive plans for future collaborations and merges or blueprints for a new product, you want to keep this information as secretive as possible.
How do you do that? A non-disclosure agreement, or an NDA for short, is one of the best options for you.
Clearly define the parties
Forbes talks about some of the key elements necessary in creating an NDA agreement. This can help you avoid the possibility of getting into disputes during or after the creation of the NDA or the information it protects.
First, be clear about the parties involved. You need to name everyone for a valid NDA, which should at least include the disclosing party and the recipient. You can also include partners, agents or affiliated companies if necessary.
Write your exclusions
Next, write any exclusions to this confidentiality. Keep in mind any potential situations in which it may end up harmful or unfair for the recipient to keep the information in question confidential. For example, if someone holds a conversation with a person who already knows the information, they cannot keep it confidential. If the information gets leaked to the public at large, they do not need to protect its confidentiality anymore, either.
Define terms and endings
Carefully define the confidential information and your agreement terms. This includes outlining the exact information you wish to keep secret and creating an expiration point for the NDA. Most NDAs have a term of two to five years, and you will rarely need anything longer due to the speed at which information grows irrelevant. Keep these things in mind and you can have a smoothly operating NDA in no time.
