ARTICLES

Confidentiality Agreements

Many employers, especially those who work in sensitive fields or with much proprietary information, want to protect their investment and their original discoveries.   There are many ways to do this – patents, copyrights, and trademarks are all traditional manners of protecting this information.  In addition to these, though, employers can require an employee to sign a confidentiality agreement, also called a non-disclosure agreement or a proprietary information agreement.

These agreements are legally binding accords that stipulate exactly what information is to be shared between parties and what kind of restrictions are to be included with that information.  These can often take the form of agreeing not to use discoveries or information for the individual's profit or to take it to another competitor.

There are many varieties of confidentiality agreements.  They can exist between two companies or two individuals who are planning to do business together. These agreements can be restricting on the use of information for just one party, or can provide stipulations for both sides.  Employers and employees can sign them as well, typically restricting the use of information to just the employee.

Many people – for example, those in the IT field – routinely are required to sign confidentiality agreements because of the nature of the information and data in which they work.  Sometimes the very existence of the agreement is supposed to be confidential as well. 

Regardless of whether you are drafting, revising or being asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, it is beneficial to have the agreeement reviewed by an experienced attorney to ensure that the terms and conditions are appropriate for the circumstances.

Contact Us

If you feel that you have been the victim of a misused confidentiality agreement, or if you have any questions regarding this issue, contact the Minneapolis confidentiality agreement lawyers of Skjold ▪ Barthel, P.A. by calling 612-746-2560.