Confidentiality (non-disclosure) Agreement While Offering Business Idea

Decorus

Hi guys,
I wonder if someone is trying to sell (offer) any business idea to someone would it be normal to offer to sign a non-disclosure of the business idea agreement and whether this agreement will have judicial power in a court?
Thanks!

Decorus

Any ideas, guys?

D3sperado

To answer your question in a nutshell, yes it is quite normal to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement when pitching to investors etc. You might feel a bit uncomfortable about asking them to sign one but the vast majority will have no problem doing this and it displays good commercial savvy on your behalf.

If your idea/technology/software is the whole key to your business then you should be taking steps to protect it as you would to protect your van etc if you ran a courier business for example. The Agreement, if drafted correctly, would be binding and should allow the person disclosing the information to seek injunctions preventing a disclosure of the idea to a competitor etc or damages if the information is disclosed.

king_of_inismac

Large companies sign NDA's all the time.

However, like patents, NDAs are only worth anything if you are prepared to sue the company if they breech them. You may not have the money to do this.

My advice would be to limit the number of people who you tell your idea to. It's a risky game. Remember, your idea can be your most valuable asset!

MrPudding

You have not mentioned what the "thing" is, but if it was something that you might want to patent in the future, then you will need an NDA or the meeting you have could be a bar to a future patent.

MrP

Decorus

Thanks a lot to everyone, really appreciate it!!!

RangeR

Decorus wrote: »

Thanks a lot to everyone, really appreciate it!!!

So what's the idea? Need .. eh .. a hand in getting it off the ground?: cool: