Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), Proprietary Information Agreements (PIAs) and Confidentiality Agreements (CAs) are interchangeable terms. All refer to an agreement used to protect and govern the exchange of confidential/proprietary information. We use the term "NDA" to include NDAs, PIAs, or CAs.

Who to contact?

Office of Sponsored Programs (Georgia Tech Research Corporation)

The Office of Sponsored Programs / Exchnage Agreements manages all research related NDAs in connection with the GIT research enterprise and certain other NDAs. NDAs managed by this Office include the following:

• Research related NDAs – associated with a sponsored research agreement or proposed research collaboration and involve the disclosure of proprietary/confidential information;
• Exploratory Research Discussion NDAs – covers exploratory research discussions initiated by the Researcher, the Office of Industry Collaboration or the Executive Vice President for Research;
• GIT Student Design Course NDAs associated with a GTRC agreement–required by companies to permit GIT employees (faculty) and students’ access to the companies’ proprietary/confidential information in connection with GIT student design courses. The collection of these NDAs is facilitated by the Course Instructor and forwarded to the Office of Exchange Agreements.
• NDAs with Non-Standard Contractual Provisions – Non-research related NDAs forwarded by the Office of Legal Affairs which include non-standard terms and conditions which GIT, as a state agency, may not accept.

If you have questions regarding the NDAs handled by the Office of Sponsored Programs, or need to request an NDA for one of the above activities, please email nda@gtrc.gatech.edu, visit their website at http://www.nda.gatech.edu, or reach out to a Contracting Officer.

Office of Technology Licensing

Commercialization of Intellectual Property and VentureLab Projects

The Office of Technology Licensing manages all commercialization of GTRC intellectual property as well as VentureLab’s commercialization activities.  If you have questions regarding NDAs related to the commercialization of intellectual property, please contact the Office of Technology Licensing Licensing Officer managing that intellectual property portfolio.

The Office of Legal Affairs

The Office of Legal Affairs negotiates non-research related NDAs in support of academic and procurement activities of Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT). These non-research related NDAs include the following:

• Procurement related NDAs – NDAs required by vendors to permit GIT employees to access or evaluate goods or services solely in connection with the procurement of such goods or services.
• GIT Student Design Course NDAs – NDAs which are not associated with a GTRC contractual agreement and are required by companies to permit GIT employees (faculty) and GIT students access to the companies’ proprietary/confidential information in connection with GIT student design courses, such as ISyE Senior Design Course, GIT Capstone Design Course, etc.
• Academic Programs  - NDAs associated with company data used as a case study for a specific course; NDAs associated with collaboration discussions regarding academic programs with other universities.
• GIT Affiliated Organization NDAs – NDAs needed to facilitate discussion and disclosure of proprietary/confidential information between GIT and any GIT affiliated organization other than Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) or Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC). Additional information about GIT affiliated organizations and a list of such organizations can be found here:  https://larm.gatech.edu/affiliated-organizations.

To assist the Office of Legal Affairs in providing better service, please complete the NDA Routing Form and return via email to asklegal@gatech.edu. Please let Legal Affairs know whether there are any time constraints involved and the exact nature of the time constraints. If an NDA is needed immediately, please bold, highlight and place the word "RUSH" in all capital letters in your initial email request, and describe the nature of the deadline (meeting, conference call, proposal deadline, etc.)

Signature Authority

Never sign any agreements where GIT, GTRC or GTARC is a party to the agreement, unless you are an authorized signatory. If you are not an authorized signatory, you could be held personally liable for any breaches or omissions that may occur under any document that you sign.