Confidentiality

It is important that you do not tell anyone about your invention before you apply to patent it, because this may make your patent invalid. However, you can tell qualified (registered) lawyers, solicitors and patent agents because anything you say to or show them is legally privileged. This means it is in confidence and they will not tell anyone else.

If you need to discuss your invention with someone before you apply for a patent, a confidentiality disclosure agreement (CDA) can help. CDAs are also known as confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDA).

No single CDA will work in every situation. This means that you must think carefully about what to include in your CDA. If possible, consult a qualified lawyer or patent agent if you are thinking about disclosing your invention to someone else and are considering using a confidentiality agreement.

Our booklet, Confidentiality and Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDA) (173Kb) , gives information and guidance about what you need to consider when disclosing an invention, including an example CDA.