How To Create Effective Non-Disclosure Agreements?

• Published date: 13 April 2021
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Corporate and Company Law, Contracts and Commercial Law
• Law Firm: CorralRosales
• Author: Mr Darío Escobar

Competition among companies and the business opportunities, ventures, technologies and constant expansion into new international markets mean that companies must protect that which allows them to stand out and differentiate themselves from their competitors, meaning their information, their "singularities".

This information and singularities can be of various kinds, for example: financial statements, data, processes, know-how, a specific material, recipes, a product, a strategy, a skill, some knowledge, a supplier, or a formula. In general, any business information that is confidential, sensitive, private and that they wish to keep secret because of the importance it represents for the viability of the business.

Non-Disclosure Agreements ("NDAs") are documents that allow the protection of company information. An NDA gives those who sign it the security of being able to share information in the different stages of the commercial relationship (pre-contractual, contractual and post-contractual). That is to say, in the event that in the pre-contractual stage, it is decided not to continue with the commercial relationship, the information that has been provided will be protected. The same applies when the contractual relationship ends.

The following are some of the elements that must be included in the NDA for it to be effective:

• Ownership of the information. It must clearly identify who is the owner of the confidential information that will be shared with the other party and how it is protected.
• Detail, limitation and scope of the information to be shared. Within the agreement it is important to state what type of information will be shared between the parties so that it can be properly identified and individualized, thus providing certainty for the parties. The scope of the confidentiality obligation refers to the information that will be covered by this agreement, its characteristics, the areas involved that handle it and know it, identification, the level of care of the information its treatment once the NDA is terminated.
• The recipient party must be clear about the scenarios under which it is authorized and may disclose confidential...