????初創公司或者新興公司行動必須果斷、高效、迅速。但是，這些公司由于面臨著高速發展以及其他諸多挑戰，也往往因此犯下嚴重的法律過失。以下幾個現象已屬司空見慣：這些公司不能區分并理解具有法律效力的協議與不具法律效力的協議這二者之間的區別；他們保存的文檔不能充分反映合營企業合作伙伴之間的法律權力與責任；并且，他們不能明確并保護自身的商業機密。

什么樣的協議具備法律效力？

????企業家應該能夠辨識各類不同協議之間的區別。盡管存在少數特例，但一般情況下，口頭協議雖然具備法律效力但往往難以證實。如果沒有協議文件，協議雙方對協議的理解很可能不一致。如果你希望協議的所有條款都具備法律效力，那就把它們寫下來。

????準備好書面協議之后，對于其中的哪些內容具備法律效力，你還需要做到心中有數。按照協議用語，書面協議分為三個基本類型：協議將來達成協議（agreement to agree）、協議意向書、以及說明詳細且具備約束力的協議。

????協議將來達成協議只是說明繼續協商的意向。盡管將來有可能會追加其他協議條款，但這類協議只是說明，協議各方有責任繼續協商，以達成最終協議。

????意向書往往對協議的基本條款進行說明，但具體細節要留待將來再進一步完善。對于協議意向書，至為關鍵的是，你需要搞清楚，協議條款是立即生效，還是說在最后條款最終確定之前并不存在任何具備約束力的協議。比較明智的做法是，在意向書中增加一個條文，說明哪些條款是目前就具備法律效力的，哪些還不是。并且，達成最終協議時，一定要以書面形式將之制作成完整的文件。

制作合資企業協議文件

????初創公司往往還會在技術和財務方面與其他公司或個人合作。多數情況下，幾方合作伙伴會先簽署一份保密協議，說明每方都有義務保護并尊重其他合作方信息的機密性。

????如果你在不具備任何進一步的證明文件的前提下，就“勇往直前”，與他人建立了合作關系，那等于自找麻煩。比如說，2006年，一位名叫約翰?沃克爾的地質學家就與LaFarge North America公司達成協議，負責領導一家合營企業在海地的一個采石場項目。沃克爾負責向LaFarge公司提供地質數據、財務預估數據、初創公司成本以及營銷分析等信息，但是雙方從未簽署書面合作協議。合作關系不久就分崩離析，LaFarge公司自然也就將沃克爾踢出了該項目。沃克爾以違背口頭協議為由將LaFarge公司告上了法庭，但是法庭駁回了沃克爾的索賠要求，因為他無法提供正式的書面協議。

????在這些合作開發項目中，初創公司往往會簽署保密協議，或者將相關文件定為機密文件，然后就與其他公司開始了合作，一般合作期為半年甚或更長，直到其中一方終止合作關系為止。在這種情況下，被拋棄的一方認為雙方已經達成口頭協議，自己有權使用相關技術或者接受股票或報酬，但只是苦于不能提供書面文件。而另一方則很可能面臨著索賠要求：犧牲其業務模式或者部分資產。但是，由于缺乏恰當的文件，法庭往往會駁回雙方的要求。更糟的是，到頭來雙方很可能會發現，經過這么一折騰，其商業秘密或者機密信息已經徹底喪失，或者面臨著被泄露的風險。

????所以，在簽署合作關系文件之前，千萬不要與合作伙伴展開合作活動。如果與合作伙伴的合作關系發生了變化，也要確保在書面協議中增加新條款，以反映這種變化。然后，起草一份完整的合同。

保護商業機密

????最后一點，初創公司必須制作相應的商業機密文件，并嚴格保守這些秘密。商業機密可能包括任何可給保守秘密者帶來經濟價值、但眼下尚不為其他人所知的信息、過程或者技術。商業機密不同于專利，這在某種程度上是由于其范圍更廣，而且必須保密。實際上，每家初創公司都會擁有許多富有價值的商業機密。將來有一天，其中一些商業機密有可能就成了專利。

????公司員工（入職時）需要簽署員工協議，該協議強制性說明，公司機密只能用于公司業務。在合營企業與其他公司和第三方的協議中，亦應使用同樣的文件用語，以確保公司商業秘密得到保護。

????接下來，公司需要采取措施，確定哪些內部信息屬于商業機密。首席技術官或者首席法務官應該鼓勵員工，不僅要明確公司的核心商業機密，還要將之制作成有約束力的法律文件。在生成文件之后，還應該建立責任制，以保護這些商業機密，其中包括限制員工和第三方的訪問權限，將關鍵文件和電子文檔設為保密級，并且要求特別口令保護。

????公司還需要密切關注員工開發的商業機密，確保隨時記錄新的商業機密，并將之納入到保密計劃中。當員工離職時，他們（往往還包括他們的新雇主）應該得到警告，禁止他們在下一任工作中使用前任公司的商業機密。如果懷疑有人不恰當地使用了公司的商業機密，應該馬上強制性隔離離職員工的計算機或者文件，并雇傭法庭專家對事件進行深入調查。

????最后，在雇人時還要提高自我保護意識。確保新員工明白，他們因其智力和技能而被雇傭，而非公司企圖從他們那兒獲取其前任雇主的商業機密。熱心過度的員工往往認為，他們可以通過使用前任工作中的商業機密信息，縮短開發過程，但是正是其此舉毀了初創公司，而且有時造成了無可挽回的損失。2006年，一名前IBM員工就曾將一份機密級IBM備忘錄，發給了他在惠普公司（HP）的新上司。備忘錄中包括IBM的商業機密——商業計劃和技術。惠普公司被迫解雇了該員工，并將此事通報給了IBM和聯邦調查局，而且還得協助美國政府進行長達數年的聯邦調查，并最終起訴該名偷竊IBM商業機密的員工。

????千萬不要重蹈此覆轍。從新員工報到伊始，就向其清晰闡明：他們不應該攜帶與其前任工作有關的任何機密材料或者信息，而且也不應該使用其他公司的商業機密。

????如果你為公司的合同關系建立了書面文件，而不僅僅是做出口頭或者非正式的合作協議，并且注重保護公司的商業機密，那么你就可避免許多初創公司常犯的低級法律錯誤。

????本文作者Benjamin K. Riley是舊金山律師事務所Bartko, Zankel, Tarrant & Miller的負責人。

????譯者：大海

????Startup or emerging growth companies have to act decisively, efficiently and quickly. But the frenetic pace and other challenges these companies face often lead to serious legal mistakes. All too often, these companies fail to distinguish and understand the differences between an agreement that is legally enforceable and one that is not; keep inadequate documentation of the legal rights and responsibilities among joint venture partners; and fail to identify and protect the company's trade secrets.

What makes an agreement enforceable?

????An entrepreneur should recognize the differences between different kinds of agreements. With a few exceptions, an oral agreement is enforceable but will often be hard to prove. Without documentation of the agreement, understanding of any agreement will likely differ between two parties. If you want to make all the terms of an agreement enforceable, document it in writing.

????Once a written agreement is prepared, make sure you understand what is actually enforceable. There are three basic types of written agreements, depending on the language of the agreement: agreements to agree, letters of intent, and a fully defined, binding agreement.

????Agreements to agree simply state the intent to continue negotiating. While other terms might be tacked on, these agreements only commit the parties to continue to work towards a final agreement.

????Letters of intent, however, normally state the basic terms of an agreement, but leave the finer details for later. With letters of intent, it is critical that you understand whether the agreed terms are immediately binding or if there will be no binding agreement until all terms are nailed down. With a letter of intent, it's a good idea to include a clause that defines which provisions are presently enforceable and which are not. And when you reach a final agreement, fully document it in writing.

Document your joint venture agreements

????Startups often collaborate with other companies and individuals on technology or financial issues. In most situations, partners will first sign a confidentiality agreement, obligating each to safeguard and respect the confidentiality of the other's information.

????If you go ahead and form a relationship without any further documentation, you're asking for trouble. For example, a geologist named John Walker entered into an agreement with LaFarge North America in 2006 to conduct a joint venture on a stone quarry project in Haiti. Walker provided LaFarge with geologic data, financial projections, startup costs and marketing analysis, but the parties never put together a written joint venture agreement. The relationship later fell apart and LaFarge took Walker off the project. Walker sued for breach of an oral agreement, but the court dismissed Walker's claim because of the absence of a formal, written agreement.

????In these joint development situations, startups will often sign a confidentiality agreement or stamp confidential on its documents and then work with the other company for six months or more before one party severs the relationship. At that point, the dismissed party finds itself with oral understandings about rights to use technology or to receive equity or payment, but no documentation. The other party may be confronted with claims against its business model or property. Courts will often reject both parties' claims on account of inadequate documentation. Even worse, the parties might find that they have lost or compromised their trade secrets or confidential information.

????Don't begin working with a partner without first documenting the relationship. If the relationship with your partners changes, make sure the written agreement reflects the new terms. Draft a full and complete contract.

Protect your trade secrets

????Finally, startup companies must document and protect their trade secrets. A trade secret may include any information, process or technology that provides economic value to the secret holder that is not readily known to others. Trade secrets are different from patents in part because they are broader and must be kept secret. Virtually every startup will have many valuable trade secrets which may or may not someday be patented.

????Employees should sign an employment agreement mandating that company secrets be used only for company business. The same language protecting trade secrets should also be included in joint venture agreements with other companies and third parties.

????Next, the company needs to take steps to internally identify its trade secrets. The chief technology or legal officer should encourage employees to identify and document the company's key trade secrets. Once documented, you should take reasonable measures to protect the trade secrets, including limiting employee and third party access, marking key documents and electronic files as confidential, and requiring special password protection.

????The company also needs to keep tabs on the trade secrets being developed by its employees, making sure that new trade secrets are documented and folded into the protection program. When employees leave the company, they (and often their new employer) should be advised of the prohibition on using the company's trade secrets at their next job. If there's any suspicion of improper use of the trade secrets, segregate the former employee's computer and files, and hire a forensics expert to investigate the situation.

????Finally, engage in defensive hiring. Make sure new employees understand they are being hired for their brainpower and skill, not to obtain trade secrets from former employers. Startups are often damaged -- sometimes irreparably -- by over-zealous employees who believe they need to shortcut the development process by using confidential, trade secret information from their former jobs. In 2006, a former IBM (IBM) employee sent his then new bosses at HP (HPQ) a confidential IBM memorandum containing trade secret business plans and technology. HP was forced to fire the new employee, report the incident to IBM and federal agents, and cooperate with a multi-year federal investigation and prosecution of the pilfering employee.

????Don't let this happen to your company. Make it clear to new employees that they should not bring confidential materials or information from previous jobs with them, nor should they use others' trade secrets.

????By documenting your key contractual relationships, avoiding oral or informal joint venture agreements, and safeguarding your trade secrets, your company will avoid many of the most common legal pitfalls that startups encounter.

????Benjamin K. Riley is a principal with the San Francisco law firm of Bartko, Zankel, Tarrant & Miller.