A confidentiality agreement (sometimes referred to as an NDA or non-disclosure agreement) can be a crucial legal instrument for
new South Carolina start-ups during its development stages or for a small business negotiating its launch of a new product or service. In short, a confidentiality agreement is a binding
legal contract which outlines certain confidential material, knowledge, or information that individuals or business entities wish to share exclusively. As such, the the confidentiality agreement protects sensitive, non-public business information.
Generally, confidentiality agreements are used to protect trade secrets. By definition, a trade secret is a formula, process, device, or item of information used by a business that has economic value because its not generally known or easily discovered by observation or examination, and for which reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy have been made. Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property and carry the action for equitable relief - i.e., injunctive relief.
Confidentiality agreements are commonly signed when two or more individuals or businesses are in negotiations to engage in business together and need to understand the processes or other information used in each others business for the purpose of evaluating the potential for a short-term or long-term business relationship.
As a
business law firm, we are often called on by businesses and entrepreneurs to properly draft confidentiality agreements or NDA's so sensitive, valuable business information is not, intentionally or unintentionally, revealed to another individual or business without consent