Intellectual Property Law
New Matter WINTER 2021, VOLUME 46, EDITION 4
Content
- 2022 New Matter Author Submission Guidelines
- A Look At the Trademark Modernization Act - Part 2
- Federal Circuit Report
- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECTION Executive Committee 2021-2022
- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECTION Interest Group Representatives 2021-2022
- Intellectual Property Section New Matter Editorial Board
- Ip and Art: An International Perspective
- Letter From the Chair
- Letter From the Editor-in-chief
- My Holiday Wish List From the Uspto
- Ninth Circuit Report
- Online Cle For Participatory Credit
- Quarterly International Ip Law Update
- Table of Contents
- The American Rule
- The California Lawyers Association Intellectual Property Alumni
- The Doj's China Initiative and the Controversy of Prosecuting Professors and Researchers In the U.S. For Trade Secrets Theft
- The Nascent Showdown Between the Ninth Circuit's Server Test and Its Detractors
- Trade Secret Report
- Ttab Decisions and Developments
- CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, "RETURN OR DESTROY" CLAUSES AND THE PERNICIOUS PERSISTENCE OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, "RETURN OR DESTROY" CLAUSES AND THE PERNICIOUS PERSISTENCE OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Jay Parkhill
Parkhill Venture Counsel, P.C.
As lawyers we strive to say what we mean in contracts, and mean what we say. Sometimes though, tradition, force of habit or seemingly competing priorities lead us to write things one way, but act completely differently.
This happens regularly with confidentiality provisions in business agreements. It is common to see language in NDAs and commercial agreements similar to the following:
Indubitably companies doing business together want to know that if they exchange confidential information the other party will protect that information against disclosure. I will posit, however, that the "industry standard" language we use to describe those obligations is a relic of paper-document times, is impossible for most companies to comply with and may result in uncomfortable discussions. I will suggest instead that we focus on strong processes for managing electronic data rather than the impossible ideal of complete expungement.