The business world nowadays is cutthroat. Confidential information, private business information, and trade secrets have all been known to leak online.
Sattiraju & Tharney argue that keeping proprietary information under wraps is more important than ever for modern entrepreneurs.
Step one is establishing safe and reliable computer systems and implementing cybersecurity measures. Whether it’s details about an upcoming patent, a client list, or “simply” a hamburger recipe, protecting your privacy is of the utmost importance.
What follows is some background on the benefits of doing so and the steps necessary to implement it. It’s vital when communicating with outside parties, managing internal staff, or interacting with departing workers.
Can’t We Just Live Without Any Sort Of Safety Net?
Imagine that one of your employees, for whatever reason, has decided to start a rival business. As a result of your lax security measures, they have access to sensitive information such as your prices, marketing strategies, and trade secrets. You should check to see that their new company, at the very least, does something different from what you do. My question is, “How?”
- Damages may have already been incurred when a lawsuit is resolved in court.
- The safest bet is to take precautions right away by doing:
- Restricting access to confidential data to only those who have a legitimate business purpose in knowing
- Preparing for the worst by having a legally binding agreement in place
- Consider trade secret protection agreements and other forms of employee secrecy as prenuptial agreements.
- It’s not recommended to sign a non-compete clause
- For better or worse, courts rarely uphold non-compete agreements or non-compete terms in other contracts.
Capitalism is the foundation upon which the United States stands. When it comes to making a living, our legal system upholds the idea that everyone should be allowed to pursue their interests. But they are not able to engage in dishonesty.
If a non-compete agreement survives legal scrutiny, it is usually because it is overly specific or requires an excessively large financial settlement. Since this is the case, they are not worthwhile. You can do much better.
Confidentiality Agreements Are Preferable
NDAs, or non-disclosure agreements, are considerably more reliable for keeping confidential information safe. This is essentially a confidentiality agreement between the parties involved.
The agreement specifies monetary compensation in the event of a disclosure. Mutual nondisclosure agreements are more common, but unilateral ones are possible.
- Overview Of Nondisclosure Agreements
When pitching your proposal to a potential investor, banker, or contractor, you may want to employ a one-way NDA to protect your interests. At the same time, you evaluate their ability to meet your needs. In no way does this prevent the disclosure of information other than the one you are making. The confidentiality of their words is not ensured.
- A Primer on Mutual NDAs
A trusting dialogue is made possible by a mutual NDA. No one needs to worry about the other person finding out what they said. Confidentiality agreements prevent the disclosure of sensitive information. The NDA’s indemnification provisions will kick in if this is the case.
When it comes down to it, the debate on intellectual property infringement is a contractual matter. Courts have an easier time identifying infractions and declaring remedies when this is the case.
- Keeping Confidential Information Safe
Even with NDAs, it is crucial to guard your confidential information. Since NDAs can only be enforced against the disclosure of confidential information, the only information that is not public knowledge can be protected.
Whether you’ve already let the cat out of the bag or it seeped out because you weren’t careful, the information is public knowledge if one of the two conditions above applies. Therefore, it is not covered by the nondisclosure agreement.
However, if you do perceive private information as private, a court will likely agree with you. Therefore, while dealing with NDAs, having as many persons as possible with access to private information sign NDAs.
- Using Ndas Properly And Efficiently
Sign and date the nondisclosure agreements, and distribute copies to all parties. You should also protect your privacy using appropriate safeguards, which could become an issue in court. Confidentiality agreements add weight to the issue of leaking trade secrets. Nonetheless, it is everyone’s responsibility to keep company secrets safe.
Consult a lawyer specializing in contracts if you need assistance with protecting confidential information. A contracts lawyer can draught the NDAs you need to run and expand your firm, provided you don’t need assistance with patents from an IP lawyer. Consider it an investment rather than a cost, and make the call today.
If your company is still in its early stages of development, you probably don’t require legal counsel for every decision you make. Creating a company from scratch is now possible with a few clicks, thanks to the availability of helpful do-it-yourself templates online.
