Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Confidentiality

typically, a properly executed confidentiality agreement would suffice legally prior to submission of any of your substantive ideas. if you would like further assistance in this area, feel free to email me with your contact information for a free legal consultation/evaluation.

Re: Confidentiality

You need to have the prospective clients sign a good NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).

Additionally, if you have a good brand name or original idea or product, you should protect it through trademark, copyright or patent.

We would be happy to assist you. We are located close to San Francisco, in Walnut Creek.

Re: Confidentiality

The answer is "yes and no." Ideas fall into two main categories, those which are patentable and those which are not. The handling at the "idea" stage differs somewhat for strategic reasons.

Assuming your idea is not patentable, you should regard it as a trade secret for legal purposes. The agreement might then be styled as a "confidential trade secret disclosure agreement." I have just written one for a small business client that wants to discuss an industrial process idea with a major manufacturer.

Whether such an agreement affords adequate protection is dependent upon several factors:

(1) The generally good character of the business to which the secrets are revealed, and of its employees. No agreement will be effective against a bunch of predators.

(2) The extent to which testing and evaluation must be done before the target firm can decide whether to enter into a royalty agreement or some other arrangement to use your idea. If extensive testing is needed, protection becomes much more difficult; and

(3) The quality of your agreement.

If you think your idea is patentable, you should obtain the advice of a patent attorney rather than (or in addition to) following trade-secret protection principles.

Finally, many if not most large companies have their own idea-submission policies and agreements which may or may not be satisfactory to you, but their use is probably not negotiable.