Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: NDA forms....find online or customize?

It is always safer to have an attorney draft the contracts you use and they would ideally be licensed in the state of the governing law for the contract.

Re: NDA forms....find online or customize?

You're obviously asking a highly biased audience of attorneys. Given that, I'd say you risk getting what you paid for with a mass produced or freebie form. Personally, I never buy something on eBay where I'm paying more than I should risk losing. The reverse philosophy applies here. If you're risking something really important like your once-in-a-lifetime great business idea, act accordingly because there may be unique points to your deal not covered in generalized forms. As to what attorney you should use if you decide to ask for help, it's like finding a doctor. You want someone that has done that procedure before and may have experience with business generally or even in the particular industry you're working in. Look for someone local and consider interviewing several attorneys until you find someone that makes you comfortable. Wishing you business success, Cathy

Re: NDA forms....find online or customize?

I would say that the quality of standardized forms varies substantially, with many being OK for very simple situations, and some being totally inappropriate. The greatest danger is not the form itself, but the ability to distinguish an appropriate form that will accomplish the task at hand from a form that will cause the other party to chuckle in amazement or scratch its head in bewilderment.

For example, I often get questions such as, "what should I use to get my ex-girlfriend off my mortgage, a quitclaim or a grant deed?" The answer is that you can't get someone off a mortgage with a deed of any kind; deeds are used to transfer title, not to change the debtors on a loan.

If you go to a lawyer for an NDA, the lawyer will probably copy either the whole document or major sections of it from a form on his or her word processor or in an attorneys' practice manual. The difference is not the source of the text itself - you are still in large measure getting a "form" - but the choice of the form has been made professionally, so it's much more likely to do the job. And if it doesn't you have someone to blame.

The choice of an NDA form should depend to some degree upon the expectations and sophistication of the party to whom you're going to make your disclosure.

Finally, NDA or not, your safety in making disclosures ultimately depends to some extent on the integrity of the individual or firm you're dealing with.