Michael J. Foycik Jr., Esq.

Help! I need a confidentiality agreement.

Let us know the specific situation, and we can send a form that is appropriate that you can fill in yourself. Or, we can do that for you at a very small cost; call or email us with the details.

I’m sending out confidential materials to a company. Can I protect myself?
You probably have valuable trade secret information, including your pending patent, and do not want anyone using that information without your permission. You should take the steps of marking every document “CONFIDENTIAL” which can be done using a stamp that is available at any office supply store. That alone confers good protection, but you will also need to keep a copy of everything you sent to that company, including any cover letters or emails, which should all use the word “confidential” in prominent locations.

It will certainly also help if you also have a pending patent application.

Should I sign a confidentiality agreement?
If someone offers you a confidentiality agreement that they have prepared, we strongly believe it should be reviewed by a legal professional. We can do that at very low cost. There are all kinds of tricks and traps in common use, and if you sign a confidentiality agreement with such tricks or traps it could give your competitor rights to use your invention without compensating you. Even a few words in an otherwise innocent paragraph of a standard form can cause a loss of rights in your own invention.