nda-triage-nl

NDA Triage - Dutch Law (Geheimhoudingsovereenkomst)

When to Use

• User submits an NDA or confidentiality agreement for quick pre-screening
• User asks whether specific NDA clauses are standard under Dutch law
• User wants to compare NDA terms against market norms
• User asks about enforceability of NDA provisions under Dutch law
• User asks about mutual vs. unilateral NDA differences
• User asks about penalty clauses (boetebeding) in NDAs
• User needs a quick risk assessment before signing an NDA

Process

1. Identify NDA type - Mutual (wederzijds) or unilateral (eenzijdig); standalone or embedded in a larger agreement
2. Identify the parties - B2B or B2C; relative bargaining positions; sector-specific considerations
3. Check governing law - Confirm Dutch law applies; if foreign law, flag and recommend local counsel
4. Clause-by-clause triage - For each key clause, assign a risk rating:
   • GREEN - Standard market position; no concerns
   • YELLOW - Non-standard but negotiable; warrants attention
   • RED - Legally problematic, potentially unenforceable, or significantly unfavorable
5. Cross-clause check - Identify internal inconsistencies, missing clauses, or cumulative risk
6. Generate triage summary - Overall risk level with prioritized action items
7. Append disclaimer

Triage Criteria Per Clause

1. Definition of Confidential Information (Definitie vertrouwelijke informatie)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Clear, specific definition; reasonable scope; includes common categories (technical, commercial, financial); marked information + information reasonably understood as confidential
YELLOW	Overly broad ("all information exchanged"); no marking requirement; includes publicly available information without carve-out
RED	Catch-all definition with no boundaries; includes information the disclosing party does not own; no ability to determine what is covered

2. Scope of Obligations (Omvang geheimhoudingsverplichtingen)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Obligation not to disclose + not to use except for the agreed purpose; reasonable care standard (same care as own confidential information, but not less than reasonable care)
YELLOW	Strict liability standard (no fault required); obligation extends beyond employees to all agents without limitation; no carve-out for legal/professional advisors
RED	Absolute non-disclosure without any exceptions; guarantee of result rather than best efforts where disproportionate; obligation to prevent any unauthorized access regardless of circumstances

3. Standard Exceptions/Carve-Outs (Uitzonderingen)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	All four standard carve-outs present: (1) public domain, (2) already known/independently developed, (3) received from third party without restriction, (4) legally compelled disclosure
YELLOW	Missing one carve-out; carve-outs subject to onerous proof requirements; no residual knowledge clause where relevant
RED	No carve-outs at all; carve-outs effectively nullified by conditions; legally compelled disclosure carve-out absent

4. Term and Duration (Looptijd)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Agreement term 2-3 years; confidentiality obligation 2-5 years after termination; reasonable for the type of information
YELLOW	Indefinite confidentiality obligation; term exceeds 5 years without justification; no distinction between trade secrets and other confidential information
RED	Perpetual obligation for non-trade-secret information; no termination mechanism; term grossly disproportionate to the nature of the information

5. Return and Destruction (Teruggave en vernietiging)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Obligation to return or destroy upon request or termination; reasonable timeline (30 days); exception for legally required retention and automatic backup systems
YELLOW	No exception for legally required retention (e.g., tax records, Wwft); immediate return requirement without reasonable timeline; certification of destruction required
RED	Obligation to destroy information that must be legally retained; no mechanism for confirming compliance; includes obligation to purge backup systems where technically infeasible

6. Penalty Clause (Boetebeding)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Penalty EUR 10,000-25,000 per breach + EUR 1,000-2,500 per day continuing breach; penalty in lieu of actual damages (Art. 6:92 BW default); reasonable cap
YELLOW	Penalty EUR 25,000-50,000 per breach + EUR 2,500-5,000 per day; penalty cumulative with actual damages (deviation from Art. 6:92 BW); no cap on daily penalties
RED	Penalty exceeding EUR 100,000 per breach; grossly disproportionate to potential harm; daily penalty without cap and cumulative with full damages; no judicial moderation clause

7. Non-Solicitation (Non-wervingsbeding)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	No non-solicitation clause (not standard in NDAs); or limited to active solicitation of specific involved employees for 6-12 months
YELLOW	Broad non-solicitation covering all employees; duration exceeds 12 months; includes passive hiring (responding to unsolicited applications)
RED	Non-compete disguised as non-solicitation; covers customers and suppliers beyond what is relevant; no time limit; disproportionate penalty attached

8. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution (Toepasselijk recht en geschillenbeslechting)

Rating	Criteria
GREEN	Dutch law; Dutch courts (competent court in relevant district); or SGOA/NAI arbitration for tech disputes
YELLOW	Foreign law but reasonable jurisdiction (e.g., English law); arbitration with high costs relative to dispute value
RED	Unfavorable foreign law; exclusive jurisdiction in a distant or unfavorable forum; mandatory arbitration with prohibitive costs; waiver of right to seek interim measures

Key Legal Provisions

Contract Law Basis

• Art. 6:248 BW - Reasonableness and fairness (redelijkheid en billijkheid) supplement and limit contractual obligations
• Art. 6:233 BW - Voidability of unreasonably onerous general terms (if NDA is part of general terms)
• Art. 6:74 BW - Liability for breach of contract (toerekenbare tekortkoming)
• Art. 6:265 BW - Dissolution of contract upon breach (ontbinding)

Penalty Clause Law

• Art. 6:91 BW - Definition of penalty clause (boetebeding)
• Art. 6:92 BW - Default: penalty replaces damages (no cumulation); creditor cannot claim both penalty and performance; penalty in lieu of supplementary damages
• Art. 6:93 BW - Notice of default (ingebrekestelling) generally required before penalty is due
• Art. 6:94 BW - Judicial moderation (rechterlijke matiging): court may reduce the penalty if fairness clearly so requires

Trade Secrets

• Wet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen (Wbb) - Dutch Trade Secrets Act (implementing EU Directive 2016/943)
• Trade secrets have separate statutory protection independent of any NDA
• NDA may provide additional contractual protection beyond the Wbb

Interpretation

• Haviltex standard (HR 13 maart 1981, NJ 1981/635) - Contracts interpreted not only by literal text but by the meaning parties could reasonably attribute to the provisions and what they could reasonably expect from each other
• CAO norm - For standard-form NDAs used widely: more objective/linguistic interpretation may apply

Consult references/key-case-law.md for landmark court decisions relevant to this domain.

MCP Tools to Use

• legislation_search - Look up relevant BW articles and Wet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen
• legislation_get_article - Retrieve specific articles (Art. 6:91-6:94 BW for penalty clauses)
• caselaw_search_rechtspraak - Find Dutch case law on NDA enforceability, penalty moderation
• caselaw_get_decision - Retrieve specific court decisions on NDA disputes

Related Skills

• dutch-contract-review - For full contract review beyond NDA-specific triage
• dutch-ip-law - For trade secrets protection under the Wet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen (Wbb)

Output Format

Output must begin with a Quick Summary Table:

Clause	Rating	Key Issue
Definition of Confidential Info	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Scope of Obligations	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Exceptions/Carve-outs	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Term & Duration	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Return/Destruction	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Penalty Clause (Boetebeding)	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Non-Solicitation	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Governing Law & Disputes	GREEN/YELLOW/RED	[brief issue]
Overall Rating	GREEN/YELLOW/RED

When a penalty clause (boetebeding) is present, calculate exposure scenarios:

• Single breach scenario: [penalty amount] x 1 breach = EUR [amount]
• Ongoing breach (30 days): [penalty amount] + ([daily rate] x 30) = EUR [amount]
• Maximum theoretical exposure (1 year): EUR [amount]
• Judicial moderation risk: Note Art. 6:94 BW - courts can moderate if penalty is disproportionate (Intrahof/Bart Smit: only if maintenance is "obviously unacceptable")

Always distinguish between:

1. Trade secrets (bedrijfsgeheimen) - protected under Wbb (Wet bescherming bedrijfsgeheimen) regardless of NDA
2. Confidential information - broader category, protected only by contract (NDA) and potentially Art. 6:162 BW (tort)
3. Publicly available information - not protectable by NDA

Note: The Wbb provides statutory remedies (injunction, damages, destruction) for trade secrets that meet the 3-part definition (secret, commercial value, reasonable steps). An NDA provides ADDITIONAL contractual protection for information that may not qualify as a trade secret.

## NDA Triage Report

**NDA Type**: [Mutual / Unilateral]
**Parties**: [Party A / Party B]
**Governing Law**: [Dutch law / Other]
**Review Perspective**: [Which party's interests]

## Overall Risk Level: [GREEN / YELLOW / RED]

## Clause-by-Clause Triage

### [Clause: Definition of Confidential Information]
- **Rating**: [GREEN/YELLOW/RED]
- **Finding**: [What the clause provides]
- **Market Standard**: [How this compares]
- **Action**: [Accept / Negotiate / Reject]

[Repeat for each key clause]

## Missing Clauses
[Standard clauses not found in the NDA]

## Priority Actions
1. [Numbered list of most important items to address]

## Summary
[2-3 sentence executive summary]

---
[Disclaimer]

Ethical Guardrails

• Mandatory disclaimer: Always append disclaimer; this is a pre-screening, not a legal opinion
• No drafting: Do not draft replacement NDA clauses; only identify issues and suggest directions for negotiation
• Proportionality: Assess penalty clauses relative to the context and potential harm, not in isolation
• Both sides: If reviewing a mutual NDA, note that obligations apply equally
• Sector awareness: Some sectors (pharma, defense, government) have legitimate reasons for stricter NDAs
• Trade secrets vs. confidential information: Distinguish between information qualifying as trade secrets under the Wbb and ordinary confidential information
• No blanket advice: Do not advise to "just sign" or "always reject"; each NDA depends on context
• Confidentiality of the NDA itself: Remind users that the NDA review process itself should be handled carefully

Disclaimer Language Selection

• Use Dutch disclaimer (assets/disclaimers/disclaimer-nl.md) when:
  • The query is in Dutch
  • The output document is in Dutch
  • The user's organization config specifies Dutch as primary language
• Use English disclaimer (assets/disclaimers/disclaimer-en.md) when:
  • The query is in English
  • The output document is in English
  • Default when language is unclear
• Use both disclaimers when:
  • The output is bilingual
  • The user requests both languages

Escalation Triggers

• NDA is part of a complex transaction (M&A, joint venture, licensing deal)
• Penalty clauses exceed EUR 100,000 per breach
• NDA contains non-compete or exclusivity provisions
• NDA involves government contracts or classified information
• NDA has cross-border elements with conflicting jurisdiction clauses
• NDA involves intellectual property assignment or licensing beyond confidentiality
• User indicates they have already breached or received a breach claim
• NDA contains unusual provisions (e.g., audit rights, polygraph clauses, liquidated damages)

Disclaimer

Append the appropriate disclaimer from assets/disclaimers/ to every output.