What Is a Confidentiality Agreement?
A confidentiality agreement template is a legally binding contract with the purpose to make persons or businesses treat specific information as a trade secret and promise. Valuable information such as trade secrets must remain confidential because once it is revealed, ownership for the information will be stripped away from the party. This could take away their competitive advantage.
How to Write a Legal Confidentiality Agreement
It is necessary to put your sample confidentiality agreements in writing. You have to allow proper documentation. It may seem a difficult job, but following these simplified steps will make your work easier. Stick with our guidelines in making your legal confidentiality agreement so you will be on track in keeping it effective. Make sure not to miss out on any part.
1. Format the Document
First, it is highly recommended for texts to be in single space and double spaces after every paragraph. Each paragraph comprises a single term in your sample contract and must be indented and numbered. Set your text format to justify so that your content will not be jagged. Make it organized and use a Sans Serif font because it doesn't have a projecting feature.
2. Identify Parties
Everyone who directly knows or can gain knowledge about the information must be listed in the contract so they can be part of the simple agreement. They must also be able to sign the document or have duly authorized representatives to sign on their behalf. With the affixes of all the parties, the agreement will be valid and acceptable.
3. List Confidential and Nonconfidential Information
Identify the confidential information you wish to maintain a secret. You do not necessarily need to be very specific; this part is meant to set the limits for which information must be kept confidential without disclosing the information itself. Furthermore, it is recommended to provide a list of the shareable information beyond the scope of the contract.
4. Set the Terms
This is where you become specific. This is where you put limits as to how the other party can use your information and until when. You can also provide your own suggested protocol on how to maintain the confidentiality of the information. Moreover, you can also specify the confidentiality period in the agreement or contract. There is no particular time frame for this, but American confidentiality agreements typically last for at least three to five years or until a certain event has taken place that no longer requires information secrecy.
5. Determine the Penalties
In the event that the other party has violated the terms set in the contract, you can implement your own penalties upon them; however, this will be at the discretion of the court. You can endorse your own penalties and seek for the court's approval or you can just refer to penalties established by the court.
6. Seal with Affixes
This is the final part of your legal agreement where all parties involved must sign, thereby making it valid and legal.
