Editing Non-disclosure agreement (section)

== General types ==
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be classified as unilateral, bilateral, or multilateral:

=== Unilateral ===
A unilateral NDA (sometimes referred to as a one-way NDA) involves two parties where only one party (i.e., the disclosing party) anticipates disclosing certain information to the other party (i.e., the receiving party) and requires that the information be protected from further disclosure for some reason (e.g., maintaining the secrecy necessary to satisfy patent laws<ref>{{cite web 
 |url=http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/matters/matters-9405.html
 | title=Understanding Confidentiality Agreements
 | first=David V.
 | last=Radack
 | year=1994
 | work=JOM
 | publisher=[[The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society]]
 | quote=Second, the use of confidentiality agreements can prevent the forfeiture of valuable patent rights
}}</ref> or legal protection for trade secrets, limiting disclosure of information prior to issuing a press release for a major announcement, or simply ensuring that a receiving party does not use or disclose information without compensating the disclosing party).

=== Bilateral===
A bilateral NDA (sometimes referred to as a mutual NDA, MNDA, or a two-way NDA) involves two parties where both parties anticipate disclosing information to one another that each intends to protect from further disclosure. This type of NDA is common for businesses considering some kind of joint venture or merger.

When presented with a unilateral NDA, some parties may insist upon a bilateral NDA, even though they anticipate that only one of the parties will disclose information under the NDA. This approach is intended to incentivize the drafter to make the provisions in the NDA more "fair and balanced" by introducing the possibility that a receiving party could later become a disclosing party or vice versa, which is not an entirely uncommon occurrence.

=== Multilateral ===
A multilateral NDA involves three or more parties where at least one of the parties anticipates disclosing information to the other parties and requires that the information be protected from further disclosure. This type of NDA eliminates the need for separate unilateral or bilateral NDAs between only two parties. E.g., a single multiparty NDA entered into by three parties who each intend to disclose information to the other two parties could be used in place of three separate bilateral NDAs between the first and second parties, second and third parties, and third and first parties.

A multilateral NDA can be advantageous because the parties involved review, execute, and implement just one agreement. This advantage can be offset by more complex negotiations that may be required for the parties involved to reach a unanimous consensus on a multilateral agreement.