Confidentiality Agreements

CLICK HERE for Free Sample Non-Disclosure (NDA) Agreements

This page contains several free sample confidentiality agreements (also known as non-disclosure agreements or simply an NDA) for you to use. You can select from two simple confidentiality agreements, a mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and a standard confidentiality agreement. All agreements can be used royalty free and can be modified to meet your own unique circumstances.

If you are an inventor, I also highly recommend you visit our Invention Help section, as well as the Inventors Information section of our blog, which contains basic information for newbies and pros.

It is always helpful to have a Confidentiality Agreement (sometimes referred to as a NDA or Non-disclosure Agreement) in place when you are talking to someone about your invention or otherwise disclosing sensitive information. The only time it is really unnecessary is when you are speaking with an attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice. In the situation where you are speaking with an attorney to seek legal assistance the law already imposes strict confidentiality requirements; requirements that are indeed far more stringent than any Confidentiality Agreement.

For example, in the situation where you are seeking the services of a patent attorney or a patent agent it is unnecessary to first obtain a confidentiality agreement before you disclose information about your invention.  Rules and regulations that apply to patent attorneys and patent agents requires that any confidential information provided must remain in the strictest of  confidence, and in fact United States Patent Office regulations impose far more strict confidentiality requirements than any confidentiality agreement would or could.  This is true even if you ultimately do hire the patent attorney or patent agent to represent you.  Confidentiality rules and ethics rules require that patent attorneys and patent agents must maintain all communications in confidence even when they ultimately do not represent you.  The key is that you have sought professional assistance of an attorney or agent and from that time forward all communications are privileged and must remain confidential.  For more on this topic see:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxr_10_57.htm#cfr37s10.57

You can verify that an individual is a patent attorney or patent agent by visiting the USPTO website at:

https://oedci.uspto.gov/OEDCI/

In all other cases a Confidentiality Agreement will save your idea or invention from being taken by others.

For more information about Confidentiality Agreements and related topics please see:

• What is a Confidentiality Agreement
• Confidentiality After Filing a Patent Application
• Protecting Ideas
• Moving from Idea to Patent