A NDA is a non-disclosure agreement. While a patent is something that is filed to protect a developing property. In a NDA, the people who have signed it must keep the information confidential and secret. The NDA is seen as a contract and this separates it from the patent law. Contract laws are seen at a state level while patent laws take place on a federal level. NDAs are not a good idea when they are used as the sole form of protection. It is important to patent certain things if it is extremely valuable and if losing it will cause detrimental harm to the company. A patent will behave as the proof of ownership of the idea and are relatively easy to get and are more protective than NDAs.