If you are going to be in this business you HAVE TO get to a point where you can read and follow directions. Almost daily I get NDA’s from Inventors wanting me to sign their NDA prior to them sending me any information, which I have no problem with. I also have an NDA I use if they do not have one.
The issue is that almost 90% of them are not filled out properly, or signed by the party sending it. This makes you look very unprofessional to the receiving party. Plus, it adds additional time resending the NDA to get it properly filled out. You also need to keep in mind that you should send two copies signed. The receiver signs both, then keeps one copy and sends the other back to the sender.
Here is an example of where you make mistakes. Look at the following paragraph and see if you can guess where you as the receiver would put your information, such as name, address, etc.
“This Mutual Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made by Roger Brown, P.O. Box 7122, North Augusta, SC 29861 and
__________________________________________________________________it is necessary and desirable that each party to this agreement may disclose certain proprietary information to the other party to this agreement.”
This space is either left blank by the receiver or they sign or print their name and do not put the address. I have even sent it with the underlined area saying in RED and ()’s
“This Mutual Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made by and (Your name and address here), and (they will put their company info here)
__________________________________________________________________it is necessary and desirable that each party to this agreement may disclose certain proprietary information to the other party to this agreement.”
I tell them in the email to remove the RED areas and ()‘s prior to filling it out and they don’t. The NDA’s are normally one to two pages in length. If they are having that much trouble understanding that short document a licensing agreement or manufacturers’ contract could easily have you giving away your rights to the product.
Another issue is DO NOT send an NDA to anyone expecting them to sign it if it says the Recipient will not disclose this information or any other information pertaining to any product in this field.
You are asking them to sign a document saying they will not talk to anyone in this field about ANY products which would include ANY that have nothing to do with you in any manner that they might be working on. Who would sign that?
I also get NDA’s that they have pieced together from other documents such as licensing contracts, internal company policies they found online and it states that if you sign their NDA they own any ideas you come up with in that field. Again, signing this means I am giving you all of my ideas.
Most NDA’s have a place for you to put your signature on the last page. It will even say “Sign”. Most people will print their name in that spot.
If you are lucky enough to get a licensing agreement or some other contract with your invention the last thing you want to do is just sign on the dotted line believing everything is okay. I know it is exciting and nerve racking to send out NDA’s, Sell Sheets, and Contracts etc especially if it is your first time doing any of this. If you don’t take your time to do it properly you could be giving away your dream to someone else. If you take them to court a Judges’ first remark is going to be “Did you read it before you signed it?” What will your answer be?
http://www.rogerbrown.net
