Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Business Secrets Protected

If you own a business and you want your employees to keep mum on certain matters or information which you want to be kept secret, you should have a confidentiality agreement which you need your employees to sign to bind them from divulging secret information on matters relative to your business.

The confidentiality agreement can bind your employees not only from disclosing secret information while employed by you. The agreement also encompasses permanent non-disclosure of your secret information, if such is the stipulation present in the non-disclosure agreement.

Aside from binding the employee himself or herself, the non-disclosure agreement can go as far as preventing the employee’s heirs and assigns from disclosing secret information vital to your business.

Unless you have a valid and legal non-disclosure agreement signed by your employee, you may not be able to claim damages against the employee for disclosing your secret information.

A non-disclosure agreement to be valid and enforceable must determine what information are to be taken as secret information and what are not. It would not hold in court if you try to claim damages for a disclosure of information which is not made clear in the first place to the employee whether the information is one in which the non-disclosure agreement applies. Hence, to avoid these problems of having your secret information peddled without you having any rights to claim damages against the perpetrators, it will be to your advantage to secure the services of an expert non-disclosure agreement attorneys.

Seeking the legal services and entrusting the drafting of your non-disclosure agreement to corpoate attorneys is your best defense in keeping your confidential information secret.