Signing a non-disclosure agreement is standard practice when entering into a commercial agreement to ensure that the information disclosed will remain confidential.
A non-disclosure agreement (also known as an NDA) protects confidential information which is intended to be disclosed to a receiving party in order to satisfy a purpose. For example, two businesses might need to share proprietary information with each other in order to assess whether a commercial partnership is worth pursuing or not. Information which is disclosed for this purpose will need to remain confidential for a certain period which is agreed in the agreement. The confidentiality term will depend on the strategic value of the information being disclosed and the industry of the parties.
A mutual non-disclosure agreement is used when the parties entering into the agreement intend to disclose and receive confidential information. Mutual non-disclosure agreements are common in B2B discussions.
A commercial partnership is intended to leverage synergies between partners in order to unlock additional revenue, brand awareness and benefits for them. A commercial partnership often encourages customers from one partner to purchase services from another at a preferential rate, or for partners to integrate each others services into their general offering.
In order to identify if a commercial partnership is worth pursuing, a mutual non-dislcosure agreement will allow partners to share information about their business strategy and customers which will help them determine if the commercial partnership is a good fit or not.
Legislate's non-disclosure agreement is suited to parties considering a commercial partnership. It contains the appropriate clauses to protect your confidential information and has survivorship clauses to ensure the terms remain in place, even if one of the parties ceases to exist. This will help prevent a bankrupt partner from using your confidential information to start a competing business within the original confidentiality period.