Confidentiality agreements are commonly used by inventors in the early stages of product development.

A confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement is used when you have an unpatented idea that you need to show to a third party and you want that party to not reveal any information about your idea.

After they are signed by both parties they become legally binding and help you retain complete control over your idea.

A Confidentiality agreement is not lodged anywhere and there are no fees, the document is just kept by the parties. In the event of a dispute the inventor can produce the signed and dated document and take action against the third party.

A confidentiality agreement means that any information you share will not be considered as being in the 'public domain' this is very important down the track when it comes to patenting.

Patenting takes time and money, it is usually best to wait until you have a prototype or at the minimum a very clear idea of how your product will work. If you are not this far advanced then a confidentiality agreement is simplest and most cost effective solution.

As with all Intellectual Property protection it is only any good if you have the resources to back it up, in the end the best protection is to only deal with people you can trust.

We have our own standard Confidentiality Agreements which you can download free and use, or you can get an attorney to draft one to meet your specific needs.