The Indiana non-disclosure agreement (NDA), or confidential disclosure agreement, is a legal document that sets the terms and conditions for the protection of certain confidential information shared between the two or more parties that are part of the NDA.
The main goal of this document is to prevent the unauthorized sharing of confidential information with any third party.
What is a Trade Secret in Indiana?
In Indiana, a trade secret is proprietary information that is essential to the operation or success of a certain business entity, is not publicly known, and, therefore, is kept confidential.
Types of Non-Disclosure Agreements
Here, you can see the main types of non-disclosure agreement forms based on which party takes on the responsibility of keeping the shared information confidential:
Two Types of Non-Disclosure Agreements
Unilateral NDA: This type of NDA obliges only one party to keep the information confidential. This type of document is usually signed between the company and its employees.
Mutual NDA: This type of NDA creates an obligation for all parties signing it to keep the shared information confidential. This is mostly used in situations where each party shares certain confidential information in correspondence with the other parties involved.
Legal Requirements for Indiana Non-Disclosure Agreement
Here you can find the legal requirements regulating the Indiana non-disclosure agreement template:
Mandatory Requirements
Statutes: § 24-2-3-1 to 24-2-3-8
Definitions: § 24-2-3-2
Statute of Limitation: An action for misappropriation must be brought within three years after the misappropriation is discovered. (§ 24-2-3-7)
What Can a Non-Disclosure Agreement Be Used For in Indiana?
In Indiana, the non-disclosure agreement template can be used in the following situations:
NDA Uses and Scopes in Indiana
Protection of business and trade secrets: Used by business entities to protect their confidential information during their interaction with third parties, such as suppliers, vendors, employees, and others.
Protection of intellectual property: Used during the development of a certain intellectual property before it gets formal protection from the intellectual property laws.
After the litigation settlement: The parties can use this type of NDA to keep the terms of their settlement agreement confidential.
Protection of client data: Businesses that have certain databases containing sensitive information about their clients use this type of NDA to protect it in situations where they have to share this information with the third parties processing it.
Indiana Non-Disclosure Agreement FAQ
Yes, the NDA is a legally binding document in Indiana. However, all the parties taking on the obligation from the NDA must have legal capacity when signing the document.
No, the NDA doesn’t have to be signed in front of a witness in Indiana. However, if the parties want to provide an additional level of authentication for the document, they might consider including the witness's signature in the document.
You can always decline to sign an NDA in Indiana. However, you should consider all the consequences of that action in terms of your relationship with the party issuing the NDA before refusing to sign it.