Perhaps during lockdown, you have come up with some really good, potentially money-making ideas or products. Such ideas may be considered to be intellectual property. Even though you may need help in developing a new product, or you want to discuss a new concept with a potential collaborator, you will want to stop people stealing or copying your ideas.
What you will need is a Non-disclosure agreements (NDA). And, good news, there’s plenty of FREE help available. Her Majesty’s Government in the UK provides some useful Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) documents that can be amended to help you to keep your invention a secret when talking to others.
Take a look at Non-disclosure agreements Here you will find various examples, including a one-way non-disclosure agreement and a Mutual or a two-way non-disclosure agreement. This type of NDA involves two parties where both parties anticipate disclosing information to one another that each intends to protect from further disclosure. This type of NDA is frequently used when businesses are considering some kind of joint venture or merger.
If the NDA is one-way only, it may need to be executed as a Deed to make it enforceable; your legal advisor can help make sure that, what should be a one-way agreement, does not end up as an artificial mutual agreement.
You probably will need to see a notary if you and the other party to the NDA, are not both in the same country. The NDA will need to state which law governs the agreement. Remember England and Wales have a different legal system to Scotland. It will also need to state in which courts it can be enforced. It is important that the courts of one country are not given exclusive jurisdiction as you may want to enforce the NDA.