Employee's Proprietary Information And Inventions Agreement
Use a EMPLOYEE'S PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND INVENTIONS AGREEMENT template to make your document workflow more streamlined.
What this employee agreement does
An Employee's Proprietary Information And Inventions Agreement records an employee’s promises concerning confidential information and work created during employment. The document usually identifies protected business information, assigns qualifying inventions or other work product, addresses prior inventions, and states continuing duties after employment ends. The employer and employee review the exact language, complete applicable schedules, and sign the same record. Under the federal ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. chapter 96, and applicable state electronic-transactions law, an electronic signature can carry legal effect when intent, consent, attribution, and record retention are established. State law still governs employment restrictions and contract interpretation.
Who uses this employee agreement
Employers
Employers use this agreement when onboarding employees who may access confidential business information or create work product during employment.
Employees
Employees review ownership, confidentiality, and post-employment obligations before signing the agreement electronically for company records.
Teams that use this agreement
Human resources teams at technology companies use the agreement during onboarding to document confidentiality duties, invention assignment terms, and signed acknowledgment before granting access to proprietary systems. Founders and legal teams at growing businesses use it to create consistent employee records, clarify ownership of work product, and preserve executed copies when personnel join or leave.
Why teams look for DocuSign alternatives
Organizations seek alternatives when they need different pricing models, stronger native automation, simpler bulk affidavit workflows, or more flexible identity-verification options than those available in a legacy envelope-based vendor.
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How to complete and sign
Complete the employee-specific details first, then use signNow to route the agreement and preserve evidence of execution.
Add the completed template to signNow.:
Upload the agreement PDF Review detected names, dates, initials, and signatures.:
Detect fillable fields Set signer roles and signing order.:
Assign employee and employer Deliver the agreement by email or signing link.:
Send for signature Retain the signed PDF and audit trail together.:
Store the completed record
Recommended agreement workflow setup
Configure the agreement to identify each signer, preserve evidence, and protect confidential employment records.
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Authentication and user provisioning | Verified employee email with controlled access |
| Signature type | Electronic signature with signer intent |
| Audit trail | Capture timestamps, IP address, and actions |
| Document retention | Retain signed agreement under company policy |
| Encryption | AES-256 at rest and TLS in transit |
Best practices for this agreement
Accurate definitions, controlled access, and complete signing records make the agreement easier to administer and evaluate.
Confirm the agreement identifies confidential information, inventions, excluded materials, and applicable employment dates. Adapt ownership language to the employee’s role and state law rather than relying on an unchanged template.
Have the employee list prior inventions or excluded works in the designated schedule before signing. A complete schedule helps distinguish preexisting work from inventions created within the employment relationship.
Limit access to human resources, authorized managers, and legal personnel who need the agreement. Store the completed record separately from editable drafts to reduce accidental disclosure of proprietary information.
Download or retain the signed PDF and completion evidence together. The audit trail should connect the signer, timestamps, delivery events, and completed agreement so the record can be reviewed later.
Security for signed agreements
Encryption at rest:
Transport encryption:
Security reporting:
Information security:
Electronic signatures:
Signer authentication:
How the audit trail supports this agreement
The audit trail records execution evidence separately from the agreement’s substantive confidentiality and invention-assignment terms.
Authenticate signer:
Capture timestamps:
Link document:
Seal evidence:
Store completion:
Retrieve audit trail:
Limits and state-law exclusions
State restrictions
Prior inventions
Notarized documents
Wills and decrees
Troubleshooting this employee agreement
Resolve signing, field, evidence, and plan questions before relying on the completed Employee's Proprietary Information And Inventions Agreement.
Business includes legally sensitive invention language, but signNow does not determine whether the clause is enforceable. Review assignment scope, state restrictions, and consideration with qualified counsel before sending. signNow can preserve the executed language and audit trail under ESIGN and UETA workflows.
On signNow Business, upload the agreement, review detected fields, assign the employee and employer roles, and send it for signature. Business includes templates and audit trails at $8 per user per month with annual billing; monthly billing is $20 per user per month.
If the employee cannot open or sign the agreement, verify the email address, resend the invitation, or provide a signNow signing link. The recipient generally does not need a signNow account, but device, browser, and authentication settings can affect access.
A typed or drawn electronic signature can be supported when the signer demonstrates intent, consents to electronic records, can be identified, and the record remains reproducible. ESIGN, 15 U.S.C. chapter 96, and applicable UETA provisions provide the governing framework.
Business Premium costs $15 per user per month with annual billing and includes bulk send. Business costs $8 per user per month annually but does not include the Business Premium bulk-send feature listed in the plan details.
Export or retain the completed agreement with its signNow audit trail. The evidence should connect signer identity, delivery, timestamps, actions, and the final document. The employer’s retention policy and any applicable employment, tax, litigation, or industry requirement determine how long records remain available.
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