There is a growing trend towards making employees sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of their employment. More than one-third of United States workers have signed these agreements. Companies believe that these are necessary to protect their information. While there are some situations that require NDAs, they are not always needed.
First, there is a valid concern that the NDA may not always be enforceable in court. Some of the agreements are too broad and are unnecessary. A court may believe that an NDA would unfairly infringe on someone’s ability to earn a living. A judge may be less likely to enforce an agreement with very broad language.
NDAs are needed when a company has proprietary information that they do not want falling into the hands of a competitor or the general public. They may also be necessary when a business is settling a lawsuit and does not want the settlement terms in the public realm. Before you ask someone to sign an NDA, you should consider whether it is necessary and enforceable.
Businesses can often achieve the same results without requiring people to sign NDAs. Intellectual property protections and other trade secret laws can guard your confidential business information and keep others from misappropriating it. You may even have a better chance to win a lawsuit, while not turning someone off by asking them to sign an NDA. If you do have an NDA, you need to be prepared to go to court because that is the only way to enforce the agreement.
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Battleson Law provides businesses with practical advice about everyday matters and helps advise on key issues that could keep you out of litigation. To learn how we can help your company, call us today at 470.766.8011 or message us online.