Intellectual property is important to our daily lives. It is the name commonly given to a group of separate intangible property rights. These include trademarks, patents, copyright, designs, plant varieties and the layout design of integrated circuits.
Protection of intellectual property rights protects creativity. The efforts of writers, artists, designers, software programmers, inventors and other talents need to be protected so as to create an environment where creativity can flourish and hard work can be rewarded.
A Non Disclosure Agreement is a legally binding contract. It may also be called a Confidentiality agreement. It provides that one party will disclose its confidential information, such as trade secrets and know how, to another, and that the recipient of the information must keep that information secret and confidential, and must not misuse the confidential information. A Non Disclosure Agreement can be made where one party makes disclosures to the other, or where each party makes disclosures to the other.
It is critical that there be a signed confidentiality agreement in place before confidential information is disclosed, especially if the confidential information is very important (e.g. trade secrets and know how).
(Source: http://www.ip.gov.hk/en/confidentiality-agreements.html)
Patent management : protecting intellectual property and innovation by 
