You are reading this message because your browser either does not support JavaScript or has it disabled. Please enable JavaScript and Cookies in order to use this site.
If your browser is not JavaScript capable, you can obtain either Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Under Linux, any browser using the latest Mozilla engine should work.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
THIS CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT ("the Agreement") dated this ________ day of ________________, ________.
BETWEEN:
____________________ of ____________________________________________________________(the "Employer")
OF THE FIRST PART
- AND -
____________________ of ____________________________________________________________(the "Employee")
OF THE SECOND PART
BACKGROUND:
IN CONSIDERATION OF and as a condition of the Employer employing the Employee and the Employer providing the Confidential Information to the Employee in addition to other valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which consideration is hereby acknowledged, the parties to this Agreement agree as follows:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF ____________________ and ____________________ have duly affixed their signatures under hand and seal on this ________ day of ________________, ________.
_______________________________WITNESS: ______________________Address: ________________________Occupation: _____________________
__________________________(Employer)Per:____________________________ (Seal)
_____________________________________________________(Employee)
A Confidentiality Agreement is sometimes called a/an:
A Confidentiality Agreement is a contract between two parties that describes sensitive or proprietary information that they plan to discuss, how the information can be used, and the legal remedies that may follow if the information is used inappropriately.
LawDepot's Confidentiality Agreement may be customised to meet the applicable laws in:
Confidential information refers to any facts, details, or data that are not common knowledge or a part of the public domain.
For instance, a company may wish to protect internal business information to prevent competitors from using this information to gain a competitive edge.
In a business setting, confidential information can include:
A Confidentiality Agreement is typically used in situations that involve the use of commercially sensitive information, such as:
While laws may vary depending on your jurisdiction, a Confidentiality Agreement can be legally enforceable if the recipient of the confidential information fails to maintain their duty of confidentiality (i.e. the responsibility of keeping the information secret) or threatens to make the information public.
In this case, the owner of the confidential information (the disclosing party) may seek legal remedies such as:
However, it's important to note that it's up to a court to decide whether or not a Confidentiality Agreement can be enforced and the court's decision can be affected by how much time has passed, the nature of the confidential information, and the circumstances of the agreement.
Still, a Confidentiality Agreement is effective in protecting sensitive information because it provides evidence of the contract terms and outlines the legal remedies that may be taken if the contract is broken.
While a breach of confidence can be legally enforceable, it can sometimes be difficult to prove. As such, it's recommended to include non-competition and/or non-solicitation clauses in your agreement when applicable because there may be more evidence with which to prove your case in court.
A non-competition clause restricts a party from starting a competing company or sharing confidential information with competitors.
Similarly, a non-solicitation clause restricts a party from coaxing employees or contractors away from the other party in the agreement.
Including these clauses can make it easier to combat an unfairly obtained competitive advantage and can help to reinforce the strength of your Confidentiality Agreement.
There are two routes you can take regarding the length of your Confidentiality Agreement.
First, you can specify a date for the duty of confidentiality to end. Once that date has passed, the information in the Confidentiality Agreement could be freely used by a third-party. For instance, if a product was developed using confidential information, the company who created the product could wait until the date the agreement ends to release the product.
In contrast, the duty of confidentiality can be perpetual, carrying on past the expiration date of the agreement. For example, trade secrets are generally protected by common law, so an employee who agreed to keep a company's trade secret may be expected to keep that secret even after they've stopped working for the company.
Both the disclosing party (whoever is revealing the information) and the receiving party (whoever is expected to keep the information secret) are required to sign the Confidentiality Agreement.
It's also strongly recommended that the signatures are witnessed by a neutral third party. The witness, or witnesses, can sign the document to guarantee the validity of the agreement.
Note: Your initial answers are saved automatically when you preview your document.This screen can be used to save additional copies of your answers.