Duty of Confidentiality
Our Corporate Team have wide experience of Non-Disclosure Agreements for the protection of IP Assets.
Confidential Information
The common law will uphold a person's obligation to keep a secret.
The implied duty of confidentiality has a 3 point test:-
- Does the information have the necessary quality of confidence about it?
- Was the information imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence?
- Was there any unauthorised use of the information?
In many circumstances it can be difficult to establish all the elements of this 3 point test. As such, businesses should act prudently in only disclosing their confidential information when they have obtained a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement from the recipient party.
Non-Disclosure Agreements can be used to protect know-how, ideas, themes, customer lists, pricing strategies, technical information, methodologies and commercial plans. There are certain "danger areas" where they should always be used, such as:-
- when engaging in a joint-venture;
- when instructing consultants or sub-contractors; and
- during the initial discussions around a business acquisition or disposal.
For more information and help on any of these topics please contact our Business Services Team on 01908 660966 or fill out our online contact form.
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