Sample Montana Non-Disclosure Agreement
Why Do You Need a Non-Disclosure Agreement in Montana?
You don't need an attorney to tell you when your confidential information needs an extra layer of protection, do you? However, you may need an attorney to countercheck the document to ensure that you have everything in order.
That extra layer of protection is the confidentiality agreement in Montana, also called a non-disclosure agreement. It's main role - to legally ensure that the parties that learn about the confidential information keep the information a secret for as long as it is necessary.
With a downloadable and free Montana non-disclosure agreement form, you will have a general overview of what is expected from you and how to ensure that the NDA outlines everything necessary for the protection of the confidential information.
An NDA adds a layer of trust your valuable proprietary information and trade secrets.
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In this article, we outline the main reasons why an NDA is invaluable and why your employees, partners, investors, potential investors, or licensees need to sign the NDA. As you already know, the implied duty to act ethically hardly works around employees; hence the need for extra protection. And, there's also the fact that you have a lot to lose if you don't employ the appropriate and reasonable measures.
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NDAs prevent potential loss of trade secrets and other forms of confidential information
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According to the provisions of the Uniform Trade and Secrets Act, trade secrets refer to the information that a company uses to derive an actual or a potential competitive advantage mainly because the information is unknown to the public or other parties that could benefit from the information.
The information is not easily ascertainable by other parties, hence the need for the maintenance of the secrecy of the information. The information covered under trade secrets acts includes methods, processes, programs, compilations, techniques, patterns, or devices. With the economic value that is or could be harvested from such information, protection is crucial.
But, trade secrets are not the only form of confidential information that requires the highest level of information, proprietary information also requires protection. If you are an inventor and you have not received patent rights to the invention or if you have the rights and you wish to keep the public out of the loop, you will need an NDA.
The increased need for protection from losses is also necessitated by the fact that everyone wishes to be an entrepreneur and your employees may be tempted to use the knowledge and skills gained while working for you to start their own companies rivaling yours. An NDA is the only way to prevent that from happening. Incorporation of clauses like non-competes will stop your employees from stealing your customers or opening shop next door.
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Your free non-disclosure agreement in Montana also protects your confidential information by ensuring that your employees don't use the information in their brains when they are no longer working for you.
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Clarification of who owns the intellectual property rights
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If you are an inventor, you most probably work with others in the lab or studio. Some breakthroughs will come from your assistants or other researchers in the team. The invention could also be a result of a team effort. However, if you are the one who initiated the research and those other people work for you, you should make it clear that new software or inventions will be your property. The only way to make this clear is by ensuring that everyone signs an NDA so that you retain the intellectual property rights. The NDA ensures that all arising IP ownerships get transferred to you. Note that this only works if the other parties are your employees.
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NDAs have a psychological deterrent effect
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Once you sign a document that is legally binding, there is a fear that comes over you whenever you think of breaching the terms of the agreement. So, even if you never intend to take your employees to court in the event of a breach of contract, ensuring that they sign the NDA will protect you from a significant amount of stress. Employees who have signed NDAs are unlikely to steal confidential information unless they have nothing to lose.
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Clarification of the information the employee should protect
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A blanket description of confidential information is inadequate. You should indicate what you are protecting. Confidential information includes marketing strategies, financial and accounting information, customer lists or vendor lists, trade secrets, software, classified government information, prototypes, or business practices, among others. Specificity ensures that your employees know what information needs special attention or care and what doesn't.
Non-compete agreements
Your employees want to use the trade secrets and knowledge from your company to gain an edge by starting their own companies or selling the secrets to your direct competitors. To prevent that from happening, you should enforce a non-compete.
This agreement has time and geographical restrictions which should be reasonable. By reasonable, it means that the non-compete, though protective of the employer's business interests from competitors, should not infringe on the employees' ability and rights to work in trained fields. There should also be a consideration: the state accepts an initial offer of employment or extra benefits sufficient consideration.
Whether you have a business based in Billings, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte, Kalispell, Big Sky, Havre or any other city in Montana, you can access our free and downloadable non-disclosure agreement forms today.
Sample
MT Non-Disclosure Agreement
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