Strengthen contracts with blockchain

Blockchain certificates bring precision to NDAs, licensing agreements, technology transfer contracts, and employment agreements.

Beyond smart contracts - precise and enforceable agreements

Contracts are legally binding agreements that permeate personal and business life. Business owners encounter them with employees, partners, clients, and suppliers on a regular basis. Yet information gaps frequently arise due to broad scope, sensitive content, or rapidly changing circumstances.

These ambiguities weaken or invalidate contracts, making enforcement difficult. For innovative companies with IP assets - including NDAs, licensing agreements, employment contracts, and technology transfer agreements - this represents a persistent challenge.

Blockchain registration embeds cryptographic fingerprints into contracts as practical references, eliminating ambiguity. This strengthens enforceability while keeping sensitive data private. Contracts can reference any data type: datasets, software, multimedia, CAD files, 3D models, and more.

The NDA enforcement problem

Vague scope definitions

NDAs often describe protected information in general terms, making it hard to prove what was actually covered.

No baseline evidence

Without documentation of what existed before disclosure, proving breach becomes nearly impossible.

Evolving projects

As projects change, the gap between NDA language and actual confidential information grows.

The Bernstein solution

Anchor to certified fingerprint

Reference a blockchain-certified project fingerprint directly in your NDA. Both parties have a clear, verifiable baseline.

Track evolution

As your project evolves, certify new versions. Maintain a complete evidence trail of what was confidential and when.

Strengthen enforcement

If a dispute arises, you have timestamped proof of exactly what information was protected.

Pre-disclosure protection

Certify your materials before any disclosure. Establish ownership before sharing.

Contract types enhanced by blockchain

Confidential files & NDAs

Companies - especially innovative ones - often share confidential information with external parties such as labs, suppliers, and consultants. Protection requires NDAs that establish responsible parties, confidentiality scope, obligations and penalties, and duration.

Challenge: Overly broad confidentiality definitions may invalidate agreements.

Solution: Generate blockchain certificates for shared files and reference them in NDAs to precisely define the scope of protected data.

Proprietary technology licensing

Over 80% of licensing and technology transfer agreements involve proprietary information and trade secrets. WIPO recommends precise definitions of licensed technology scope - a critical yet often disputed element post-signature.

Since trade secrets require no registration (unlike patents), they are identified solely through contract descriptions or attachments.

Challenge: Explicit trade secret descriptions risk unauthorized third-party disclosure.

Solution: Represent shared technology through blockchain certificates encoding documented technology collections, referenced directly in agreements.

Beware of technology licensing without explicit content descriptions or supporting documentation. Don't accept vague descriptions like 'cutting-edge XXX technology.'
— WIPO,Successful Technology Licensing

Employment contracts

Rising employee mobility means valuable knowledge leaks as technology and experience transfer to competitors. Employment confidentiality clauses prohibit employees from disclosing or profiting from proprietary information during or after employment.

Overly broad confidentiality descriptions may void employment confidentiality clauses. If employees breach confidentiality, companies must prove the breached knowledge was inherently confidential and explicitly communicated.

Challenge: Proving which specific confidential information was shared with specific employees.

Solution: Include targeted, permission-controlled confidentiality clauses covering specific knowledge in blockchain certificate form. Regularly update certificates and revoke access upon employee departure.

A Virginia court invalidated a confidentiality agreement, determining it 'was not enacted solely to protect the employer's legitimate business interests.' The court ruled the agreement terms were overbroad.
— Foley & Lardner LLP,How Weak Are Employee Non-Disclosure Agreements?

How Bernstein fits your contracts

Bernstein is an accessible platform for registering IP assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. Certificates receive broad legal recognition globally and can be verified by independent third parties.

Companies quickly generate digital asset certificates - covering proprietary technology, trade secrets, and business information - for direct use in contracts. This simple method bridges the gap between digital assets and paper agreements.

Bernstein certificates interlink, proving how specific document groups evolved over time. Users create agreements that always explicitly reference current information versions: the latest shared datasets, active privacy policies, or specific R&D project status.

Bernstein's zero-knowledge architecture keeps all blockchain-recorded files perfectly private. Content remains inaccessible and tamper-proof to unauthorized parties, including Bernstein itself.