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The Missouri non-disclosure agreement (NDA), or confidential disclosure agreement, is a legally binding document that is designed to protect certain confidential information, such as intellectual property, client information, business and trade secrets, and other types of information that the parties want to keep confidential.
What is a Trade Secret in Missouri?
A trade secret in Missouri is confidential business information, such as formulas, processes, creative work, designs, and methods, that can be considered a competitive advantage of a certain business entity and, for that reason, must be kept confidential.
Types of Non-Disclosure Agreements
In this section, you can see the main types of non-disclosure agreement forms based on which party takes on the responsibility of not sharing the exchanged information with any third party:
Two Types of Non-Disclosure Agreements
Unilateral NDA: This type of NDA forms an obligation for only one party. It is mostly used by companies to protect the information their employees get access to during the employment period.
Mutual NDA: This type of NDA creates an obligation for all the parties involved to keep the shared information confidential. This type of NDA is used in situations where each party shares certain confidential information in communication with other parties.
Legal Requirements for Missouri Non-Disclosure Agreement
Here, you can see the state laws and requirements for the non-disclosure agreement template in Missouri:
Mandatory Requirements
Statutes: § 417.450 to 417.467
Definitions: § 417.453
Statute of limitations: An action for misappropriation shall be brought within five years after the misappropriation is discovered. (§ 417.461)
What Can a Non-Disclosure Agreement Be Used For in Missouri?
The non-disclosure agreement can be used in different situations based on various factors, such as the level of confidentiality of the information, the type of entity you are exchanging the information with, the type of information the parties want to protect, and more.
Below, you can see the most common reasons for issuing the NDA:
NDA Uses and Scopes
Protection of intellectual property: Used by parties that want to protect their software, creative work, inventions, or other kinds of intellectual property if they are not protected by intellectual property regulations.
Protection of business information: The NDA is also used during business interactions where the party signing the NDA has access to the information of the party issuing it.
Protection of information during the merger and acquisition: Used for protecting the confidential information of each party participating in the merger and acquisition process.
Protection of information during employment: The employers use the NDA to protect the information their employees get access to during their employment. Usually signed along with the employment agreement.
Missouri Non-Disclosure Agreement FAQ
Yes, the NDA is a legally binding document in Missouri. All the parties signing it must have legal capacity. Otherwise, the document won’t be binding for them.
No, the Missouri NDA doesn’t need to be signed in front of a witness to be valid. However, if the parties want to provide an additional level of authentication for the document, they can include the witness signatures.
You can always decline to sign the NDA in Missouri. However, before doing so, you should consider that this action might jeopardize the relationship between you and the party issuing the NDA.