Create a West Virginia Non-Disclosure Agreement with our customizable template!
A West Virginia non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement, is a legal contract between a business and its new employee or independent contractor. The goal of a West Virginia non-disclosure agreement is to bind the employee or contractor to secrecy regarding certain business information and trade secrets. A party who releases the information is liable for the payment of damages.
An NDA may be its own contract or it may be part of a set of employment contracts. Before drafting your NDA or signing one presented to you, seek legal advice.
West Virginia uses the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, WV Code §§ 47-22-1 through 47-22-10 (2002 through Reg Sess) , to govern the creation and use of non-disclosure agreements. The West Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act also explains the statute of limitations as well as what businesses must do to preserve the secrecy of the information .
Protecting the secrets of a business is important. A business must take every necessary step to protect its interests. In addition to a well-written NDA, a business should also use a well-written West Virginia non-compete agreement .
Since the purpose of a West Virginia non-disclosure agreement is to secure the privacy of certain business information, it’s important to understand how that information is addressed by the West Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
Confidential business information is referred to as a “trade secret” under the West Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act. This law defines a “trade secret” as information that includes but isn’t limited to a formula, a pattern, compilation of data, a program, a device, a method, a technique, or process with its own actual or potential economic value.
Its value is created because the information isn’t something that the public or another business could, in essence, discover and use for their financial gain. The business that wishes to protect the information as a trade secret must take reasonable precautions to keep that information private.
To write a West Virginia non-disclosure agreement, first read the state's Uniform Trade Secrets Act so that you'll better understand how WV Code protects against the disclosure of information.
However, this is not an adequate replacement for obtaining legal advice. An attorney can help ascertain whether your NDA is enforceable if going to court becomes necessary.
You can save your template in Microsoft Word (.docx) for easy editing.
The parties should sign and print their names. The signatures should be dated. Finally, each party should receive a copy of the executed NDA for their records.
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