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NDAs and protecting confidential information

This section will help you to understand how to protect your A product of human creativity such as copyrights, trademarks, patents and designs. and other confidential business information when sharing with others, whether at meetings, when discussing business collaborations, or whilst selling your business. It will also help you to understand how to use An Non Disclosure Agreement. These are agreements between parties to not disclose any confidential information except where permitted under the terms of the agreement. An NDA can be either one-way (only one party agrees not to disclose confidential information) or mutual (all parties to the agreement agree not to disclose confidential information). s and Agreements between two or more businesses allowing them to operate without fear of interfering with each other's intellectual property rights. Coexistence agreements are most commonly used to avoid confusion where two businesses or people have similar names., and how to protect your A product of human creativity such as copyrights, trademarks, patents and designs. when a A person who is not directly involved in an existing relationship, transaction or dispute; for example, someone who is not a named party in a contract. has access to it (whether through a sale, licence, An arrangement whereby a business gives someone else a licence (permission) to operate a business which uses their name, trade marks, brand and logos, usually in exchange for a percentage of the other business's profits., commission, or because they are providing you with a service).

intellectual-property-and-confidentiality

Intellectual property issues during meetings or negotiations

  1. 1.What can I do to protect my intellectual property during business meetings or negotiations?
  2. 2.How can I protect my trade mark before business meetings or negotiations?
  3. 3.How can I protect my invention before business meetings or negotiations?
  4. 4.How can I protect my design before business meetings or negotiations?
  5. 5.How can I protect my copyright before business meetings or negotiations?

Revealing information during meetings or negotiations

  1. 6.How much should I reveal about my trade mark or design during business meetings or negotiations?
  2. 7.Should I reveal my trade mark or design during business meetings or negotiations if they are already registered?
  3. 8.Should I reveal my trade mark or design during business meetings or negotiations if I have signed an NDA?
  4. 9.Should I reveal my trade mark or design during business meetings or negotiations regardless of who I am talking to?
  5. 10.How much should I reveal about my invention during business meetings or negotiations?
  6. 11.How much should I reveal about my copyright during business meetings or negotiations?
  7. 12.Should I reveal my creative work during business meetings or negotiations if it is protected by copyright?
  8. 13.Should I reveal my copyright during business meetings or negotiations if I have signed an NDA?
  9. 14.Should I reveal my copyright during business meetings or negotiations regardless of who I am talking to?

Intellectual property issues when entering into a business collaboration

  1. 15.Should I sign an NDA before entering into negotiations on a business collaboration?
  2. 16.What intellectual property issues do I need to think about before I enter into a business collaboration?
  3. 17.How can I check another business's intellectual property before I enter into a business collaboration with them?
  4. 18.How can I check whether another business' patents, trade marks or designs are registered and still in force?
  5. 19.How can I check whether another business' copyright is protected and in force?
  6. 20.Should I sign a letter of intent when negotiating a business collaboration?
  7. 21.What happens to existing intellectual property when I enter into a business collaboration?
  8. 22.How do I transfer my company's intellectual property to a business collaboration I am entering into with someone else?
  9. 23.What is an assignment of intellectual property in a business collaboration?
  10. 24.What is licensing intellectual property in a business collaboration?
  11. 25.Can a licence for intellectual property rights be limited in a business collaboration?
  12. 26.What happens to the new intellectual property that my business collaboration creates?
  13. 27.Can parties to a business collaboration co-own intellectual property?
  14. 28.What happens to intellectual property when my business collaboration ends or a party to the business collaboration leaves?

Intellectual property issues with a business sale

  1. 29. What happens to my intellectual property when I sell my business?
  2. 30.Should I sign a memorandum of understanding during negotiations when selling my business?

NDAs: Introduction and benefits

  1. 31.How can I protect my business information before going into business meetings or negotiations?
  2. 32.What is an NDA?
  3. 33.When should I consider using an NDA?
  4. 34.What are the benefits to me of having a signed NDA before disclosing information at business meetings or negotiations?

NDAs: Considerations before signing

  1. 35.What should I do before asking someone to sign an NDA?
  2. 36. What information should I be looking to protect with an NDA?
  3. 37. What information is typically not protected by an NDA?
  4. 38.Will someone to whom I plan to disclose information at a meeting or negotiation always be willing to sign an NDA?
  5. 39.Should the NDA I ask someone to sign be one-way or mutual?
  6. 40.What should I consider about the person to whom I am planning to disclose information?
  7. 41.Should I be worried about the bad reputation of NDAs in the media?

NDAs: Disclosing information without one

  1. 42.What if I disclose information to someone who has not signed an NDA?
  2. 43.Can I ask someone to sign an NDA after I have disclosed information to them?
  3. 44.What should I do if the person I am dealing with refuses to sign an NDA?

NDAs: Provisions to include

  1. 45.What provisions should I include in an NDA to protect my business?
  2. 46.Should I include undertakings not to solicit staff or customers in an NDA?
  3. 47. Should the NDA be subject to a time-limit?

NDAs: Bringing a claim

  1. 48.What can I do if I think someone is misusing my business information in breach of their NDA?

Selling your intellectual property

  1. 49.Can I continue to use my intellectual property if I have sold it or allowed someone else to use it?
  2. 50.How will selling my intellectual property, or allowing someone else to use it, impact the rest of my business?
  3. 51.How should I charge for the use of my intellectual property?
  4. 52.How much is my intellectual property worth?
  5. 53.How can I protect my intellectual property if someone has a similar product?
  6. 54.Can I make an agreement about using intellectual property if someone has a similar product?
  7. 55.How can I protect my intellectual property if I need someone to repair it or do other work on it?
  8. 56.How can I protect my intellectual property when I have commissioned someone else to produce a product for me?
  9. 57.What is franchising?
  10. 58.How can franchising affect my intellectual property?

Licensing your intellectual property

  1. 59.How do I give someone else permission to use my intellectual property?
  2. 60.What should a licence agreement allowing someone to use my intellectual property contain?
  3. 61.Can I change the terms of a licence under which I allow someone else to use my intellectual property?
  4. 62.Can I withdraw permission for someone else to use my intellectual property?
  5. 63.What is an Open Source software licence?
  6. 64.Can I still protect my intellectual property even if I use an Open Source licence for my software?
  7. 65.What should an Open Source licence for my software contain?
  8. 66.What is a coexistence agreement?
  9. 67.When should I enter into a coexistence agreement?
  10. 68.What should a coexistence agreement contain?

Step-by-step guide to applying for a UK trade mark online

This step-by-step guide to applying for a UK trade mark online tells you how to apply online to register a UK trade mark. If your application is straightforward, you can usually make the application yourself (without needing a lawyer). Use this guide to assist you with completing each field of the UK online trade mark application, including who is applying for the trade mark, owner details, description and class of the trade mark, priority date, type of trade mark, and more. This step-by-step guide to applying for a UK trade mark online can save you time, by helping you to complete the form correctly (which reduces the risk of follow up questions from the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO)). If you would prefer to apply for your UK trade mark by post using a paper form, see Step-by-step guide to filling in the UK trade mark application form . You can also buy this guide as part of the Protecting IP and confidential information toolkit .
£10 + VAT

Sale non-disclosure agreement

Use this sale non-disclosure agreement (also called an NDA) if you are thinking of disclosing information to a potential buyer of the shares or business and assets of your company. By using this template agreement before giving out any confidential business information, you protect your business and minimise the risk of potential costly disputes in the future. The confidentiality obligations in this sale non-disclosure agreement are mostly given by the potential buyer (although by signing both of you will agree not to disclose any details of your discussions).
£25 + VAT
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