Jinx wrote:

> But Peter, as you said (IIRC), you have to sign an NDA to find
> out what it's all about. Now, what if, as in my case, the product
> was no big secret after all (ie not novel, perhaps not well-known
> but not hard to find either) and you had prior knowledge and could
> also even show some prior art ? Surely you can't or shouldn't be
> penalised for what you already know ? 

I think it all depends on what is stated in the NDA and your work contract.
Whether or not the NDA is called NDA doesn't seem to be as substantial;
it's more about what is actually written in there and in all other
contracts you have with this company -- and whether this affects what you
want to do, and if so, whether it is enforceable in your country, and even
if not, how easy (costly) the defense against a possible law suit is.

Since you haven't posted the contents of your contracts with that company
(which probably is not a good idea :), this whole discussion doesn't seem
to go much anywhere as the basis is missing. "NDA" by itself doesn't say
much.

Gerhard

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