A New Mexico Non-Disclosure Agreement, governed by the state’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), is a powerful legal shield vital in the hiring process, enabling employers to safeguard trade secrets and sensitive company data. This extends to any scenario involving the exchange of such proprietary knowledge.
Information must hold actual or potential value and remain outside public knowledge to qualify as a trade secret. Any breach of this agreement may lead to the employee’s liability for damages incurred by the employer.
Notably, the agreement only expires when the confidential information loses its trade secret status or upon employer termination.
Trade Secret Laws
57-3A-1 – 57-3A-7 (Uniform Trade Secrets Act)
UTSA Version Adopted: 1985
Misappropriation (§ 57-3A-4): Complainants can recover damages for breaching an NDA, including monetary loss and the amount gained by the offending party. If the misappropriation was willful and malicious, the complainant may receive up to twice the determined damages.
Statute of Limitation (§ 57-3A-7): Once the plaintiff discovers the misappropriation, they have three years to sue the defendant.
Trade Secret Definition (§ 57-3A-2(d)):
“trade secret” means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that:
(1) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(2) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
