◎賴文智律師
四、保密責任的除外規定
合宜的保密責任除外規定，對NDA來說是非常重要的，可以免於接受方捲入無謂的訟爭。一般比較常見的情形包括：接受方在收到機密資訊之前就已經合法取得、並非因可歸責接受方的事由導致機密資訊被公開、由揭露方以外的第三人處合法取得，且並不受該第三人或揭露方保密義務的拘束、獨立由接受方自行研發、依據法律的規定或配合行政或司法程序的揭露等。這類的條款差異有限，通常審閱時個人都是很快的帶過去。比較常見的條款寫法可以參考如下：
This Agreement imposes no obligation upon the Receiving Party with respect to information that: (a) was rightfully in the Receiving Party's possession before receipt from ; (b) is or becomes public knowledge through no fault of the Receiving Party or it's employees; (c) is rightfully received by the Receiving Party from a third party without restriction and without knowledge of any obligation of confidentiality between the third party and the Disclosing Party; (d) is independently developed by the Receiving Party without reliance on the Confidential Information (by personnel to whom the Confidential Information was not disclosed); (e) is disclosed under operation of law; or (f) is disclosed by the Receiving Party with the Disclosing Party's prior written approval.
Confidential Information shall not include information which:
(a) is or became available to the public through no fault of the Receiving Party;
(b) was obtained in good faith by the Receiving Party from a third party without breach of any obligation of confidentiality owed to any third party and/or the Disclosing Party;
(c) was independently developed by the Receiving Party without any breach of this Agreement;
(d) was communicated in response to a valid order by a court or other governmental body, or was otherwise required by law; provided the Party that is required to disclose the Confidential Information immediately notifies the other Party of such required disclosure sufficiently in advance of the disclosure; or
(e) is already known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure of the information thereof by the Disclosing Party without an obligation to keep such information confidential pursuant to this Agreement.
五、期間及終止
NDA的有效期間大概是NDA例稿最困難的條款。為什麼這樣說呢？理論上，不同層級的機密資訊「解密」或「脫密」的程序或時程並不相同。NDA例稿要因應不同類型的對外交易合作，可能揭露的機密資訊也各不相同，NDA例稿應該要提醒使用的同仁必須依個別交易合作可能機密資訊揭露的狀況進行調整。一般比較常見至NDA有效期間終止或屆滿後2、3年，也有比較長到5年。為了避免有機密資訊到約定的保密期間仍然有保密的需求，通常我們會搭配揭露方可以隨時要求返還或銷毀的條款。
This Agreement is applicable only to Confidential Information that is disclosed between the Effective Date and (“End Date”). The Receiving Party's duty to protect Confidential Information expires three (3) years from the End Date. The Receiving Party, upon the Disclosing Party’s written request, will promptly return all Confidential Information received from the Disclosing Party, together with all copies, or certify in writing that all such Confidential Information and copies thereof have been destroyed.
也有非常簡單的條款：This Agreement shall become effective on . The obligations of confidentiality will be in effect for five (5) years starting from the above effective date. 這是從NDA生效日起算5年，也是常見的寫法。
另外一種所謂永久保密的條款，寫法是有關保密的義務，在NDA終止或屆滿後仍然持續有效。例如：This Agreement shall remain in effect for a period of two (2) years from the Effective Date unless otherwise terminated by either Party giving notice to the other of its desire to terminate this Agreement. The requirement to protect Confidential Information disclosed under this Agreement shall survive termination or expiration of this Agreement.
或許不少讀者會覺得為了公司機密資訊的安全，選擇永久保密的條款應該是最安全的，但不要忘了，我們是在設計雙向保密的NDA例稿，不但是交易的相對方要負永久保密的責任，我們自己也要對於他方的機密資訊負永久保密的責任，二方的風險同時都要考量喔！
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圖文不符．Photo by 蕭家捷
