The problems faced by inventors are two-fold – they not only
have concerns about "being ripped-off", but face jeopardising
future patent applications if their invention becomes known.
For an invention to be patentable it must be novel: not known in
the public domain prior to the filing date of the patent
application. This means that if the inventor has disclosed how the
invention works to anyone else then his patent application could
fail. Only those disclosures of the invention that are confidential
are deemed to not be 'public', and therefore not a challenge to the
validity of a future patent application.
The solution, according to the Patent Office, is the
Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA).
CDAs, or Non-Disclosure Agreements, are used when confidential
information is likely to be exchanged between two parties, and one
or both of them wish to record the terms under which that
information is to be given.
But some CDAs can be complex and costly to prepare, while others
may be inappropriate for particular circumstances.
The Patent Office has therefore issued guidance to help
inventors.
"We are committed to helping British inventors bring their new
ideas to market," said Andy Bartlett, Innovation Champion at the
Patent Office. "In the early stages of developing a new product or
process, inventors can be torn between the need to guard their
secrets whilst also seeking financial support or technical advice.
Disclosing the invention to some people is inevitable for many
inventors, so we wanted to take the worry out of drafting a
CDA."
