Can I restrict a contractor from disclosing to others information that is not patentable?
<p>Suppose I am contracting out some research / experiments to improve upon a process my company already practices. Obviously I need to first tell him what we practice under status quo. </p>

<p>Now I want to restrict the contractor from disclosing any of this to third parties. On the other hand, a lot of stuff we practice is not exactly patentable since there are old papers and expired patents out there describing some of these steps and innovations. i.e. If some third party did indeed independently come up with the same combination of process steps there's not much we could do about it. </p>

<p>But then again there's a ton of patents and articles and the value lies in knowing which ones to combine to produce a commercially viable product. </p>

<p>Can I still structure the agreement such that I prohibit the contractor from disclosing what we practice? Although he could argue that all of  it is described <em>somewhere</em> in the open literature?</p>

<p>As an extension, if a third party hypothetically started practicing what we do on the basis of stuff disclosed by the contractor, we'd have no patent to sue them for. But could we still do anything about it?</p>

<p>Just want to get opinions on what the body of law is (or precedents) that I ought to be reading to understand such situations. </p>

<p>Anything that helps you with your business and that you keep secret is a trade secret. The "keeping it secret" is an important part. Competitors are free to discover the same information themselves and use it, but stealing it from you is illegal. </p>

<p>If a contractor needs to learn this information to do their job, you make them sign a <strong>non-disclosure agreement</strong> or <strong>confidentiality agreement</strong> which forbids them to pass that information on. That way, it remains a trade secret. If the contractor gives your trade secrets away, that is breach of contract and you can sue for damages. If a competitor pays your contractor to give them your trade secrets, that's not just illegal, it's criminal. </p>

<p>On the other hand, if the contractor puts the information on his blog for example where everyone can read it, without having been enticed by someone to do this, then I believe your trade secret is gone and competitors can use it. Same as if you left documents on a park bench and your competitor finds them and reads them. You have to keep a trade secret a secret; if you fail to do so you lose. </p>

<p>Asked about patents: If there is a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement in place, then nobody can apply for a patent. The whole idea of a patent is that you get legal protection in exchange for disclosing your invention. Applying for a patent would mean violation of the non-disclosure agreement. </p>

<p>Yes you can: it's called a confidentiality agreement. </p>

contract-law intellectual-property