@ Cleve~ Well, just for the record, the Clorox Services Company does offer a participant non-disclosure agreement, which can be downloaded. But, just curious, and based solely on the language regarding ‘Section E’ of the aforementioned NDA…Would you feel comfortable signing it?

Note: I’m not trying to persuade/discourage you from any interest in the Clorox Company, just curious is all.

Section E… ( Purpose – “…discussions about ways to improve Clorox products.” )
”Consistent with the Purpose, I understand and agree that any input, feedback or ideas that I provide to Clorox based on the disclosure of Confidential Information may be used by Clorox in its products in the future without any obligation of payment by Clorox to me. In this regard, I hereby irrevocably assign to Clorox, its successors and assigns all right, title and interest I may have in any intellectual property, including without limitation, all copyrights and inventions, that are generated as a result of my participation in discussions with Clorox in furthering the Purpose outlined above. I further agree to execute any assignments, applications or other documents as may be requested by Clorox, its successors, assigns or legal representatives, to obtain any and all copyright registrations or patents related to any such intellectual property to record the transfer of ownership to Clorox, its successors or assigns. If Clorox is unable for any reason to secure my signature to any document required to file, prosecute, register or memorialize the assignment of any rights under any such copyright registration or patent filing, and I am not available prior to the filing deadline for such document, I hereby irrevocably designate and appoint Clorox and Clorox’s duly authorized officers and agents as Clorox’s agents and attorneys-in-fact to act for and on Clorox’s behalf and instead of me to take all lawfully permitted acts to further the filing, prosecution, registration, memorialization of assignment, issuance and enforcement of rights under such copyright or patent rights, all with the same legal force and effect as if executed by me. The foregoing is deemed a power coupled with an interest and is irrevocable. Clorox shall bear all costs associated with the protection of Clorox’s rights in any such intellectual property, including without limit any patentable intellectual property.”

@ TCOMC~ Just curious, was the language similar regarding your experience?

Cleve- If you don’t have a good attorney, you might want to find one. Companies always take as much as they can in any agreement, it’s just business to them. Case in point, I had one company that offered up a decent looking NDA… until I read the last clause. Basically they wanted the rights to anything they said they invented or improved upon in my patents regardless of who invented it first. I basically told them what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours…unless the stuff you claim to invent infringes on my work. I asked them to add in clauses that recognize my prior and current work and they did. They now make some of my products and it’s a good relationship, overall.

Which finally leads me to my point, lol! In the course of discussions with company ‘X’ you may invent or discover something, but you don’t tell them about it. You go to apply for patents later on and they challenge you saying they invented first, it was joint property, etc… Your existing patent only gives you protection according to your claims, not to things you haven’t claimed yet! You may even tell them trade secrets, or processes they didn’t know about. That’s all valuable information and needs to be treated as such. That’s part of the beauty of a good NDA, they cannot share what you share with them unless you agree to it.

~TCOMC

I have not signed any agreement with the company yet,I read Roger Brown’s comments stating that if a company does not offer a NDA, you should move on to other companies on your short list in search of licensing.

@ Cleve~ Well, even though there’s no need for a company to sign any NDA, especially if you already have an “actual” issued patent in place…If you don’t mind me asking, did you in fact sign their (Clorox) ‘Participant Non-disclosure Agreement’?

Cleve, In addition, I believe the part of the release that you are quoting is meant to be a good faith statement.
In other words they’re going to share your idea on a “need to know” basis, which is good.
Even with a patent it helps to limit exposure until you’re ready to go to market. In my opinion patents are kind of like locks;
they’re for the honest people.

Well, I obviously jumped right over those words “I have a patent” – so much for that speed-reading class! And, I wasn’t even drinking…..

But, Roger, that doesn’t mean that you’re not missing something………you just lucked out this time….
;-)

Am I missing something here? If he has a patent..(doesn’t that mean it’s public knowledge at this point)and that he is protected by the strength of his patent such as it is?

Cleve, from what I understand, many companies will not sign the NDA you provide and if you sign their NDA (as indicated above) you might be leaving yourself wide open. Use that little green search button above every thread and type in NDA or Non Disclosure or whatever and you might find your answer. There are a few EN’ers who seem to know quite a bit about protecting yourself – maybe they will post here.

I just searched ‘Clorox’ and it seems that EN did an LPS with them: maybe read a lot of those messages.

Good luck…….

Hi, Cleve,

Unfortunately, Edison Nation staff cannot provide you with legal advice regarding any releases, non-disclosure agreements, or other documents you enter into with Edison Nation or other parties. You should consult with an attorney to discuss the terms and conditions of any agreements with which you are presented before signing them.

Rich