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Mutual NDA versus one-way NDA
A mutual NDA gives both parties the roles of discloser and receiving party; a one-way NDA fixes those roles on opposite sides, so the confidentiality flow, party labels and signature record differ even when much of the clause text is shared.
This page describes a class of document in general terms. It is not legal advice, it is not about your situation, and it is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Reading it creates no attorney-client relationship.
01
The difference is the direction of disclosure
Common Paper describes its mutual form as requiring both parties to protect confidential information disclosed under the agreement, while its one-way form says that only one party agrees to keep specified information confidential. The operative distinction is whether confidential information is expected to move in one direction or both.
In the mutual form each party can be the Disclosing Party for one exchange and the Receiving Party for another. The duties follow the information. In the one-way form the roles are fixed: one side supplies information and the other side accepts the confidentiality duties attached to it.
That role model changes the record OctoDoc keeps. A mutual form has two parties with reciprocal duties and ordinarily two signature blocks. A one-way form records one discloser, one receiving party and a signature block for the side accepting the duty.
02
The instruments side by side
| Field | Mutual NDA | One-way NDA |
|---|---|---|
| Information flow | Both directions | Discloser to receiving party |
| Who can disclose | Either party | The named discloser |
| Who carries confidentiality duties | Each party when receiving | The named receiving party |
| Typical party labels | Party 1 and Party 2 | Discloser and receiving party |
| Signature blocks | Two | One acceptance block, plus discloser details |
| Default routing | Parallel | Sequential from preparation to receiving-party signature |
| Reference-form mark count | 9 | 6 |
04
Why the mark sets differ
The mutual form's nine-mark set follows the measured mutual-NDA fixture already in this Library: one effective-date mark plus signature, name, title and date for each party. Because both sides undertake the same class of duty, neither signature depends on the other and parallel routing fits the form.
The one-way form uses six marks: the discloser's legal name, one effective date, and signature, printed name, title and date for the receiving-party signer. The discloser prepares and sends the instrument; the other side's signature is the acceptance event the record needs to capture.
The numbers describe these two published form structures, not a universal signing rule. A form that gives both parties signature blocks or adds notice addresses creates a different mark set.
05
The concrete mismatch
A one-way form used during a two-way diligence exchange records duties for only the side named as receiving confidential information. The later flow in the opposite direction is then absent from the form's role model, even if the file name still says NDA.
A mutual form used for a genuinely one-directional disclosure does the opposite: it creates reciprocal duties and a second signature block even though only one side is supplying the protected information. The extra duty is not a formatting detail; it changes the parties' recorded commitments.
Clause text quoted from Common Paper standard agreements, © Common Paper, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
SOURCES
Where each figure came from
1. “A mutual nondisclosure agreement, also called a bilateral NDA, requires both parties to the NDA to protect the confidential information disclosed under the terms of the confidentiality agreement.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/standards/mutual-nda/ · checked 2026-07-30
2. “The one-way NDA is unilateral in that only one party agrees to keep certain information confidential.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/documents/one-way-nda · checked 2026-07-30
3. “A one-way NDA only protects information of one party. In contrast, a mutual NDA allows both parties to share information with the contractual protection of confidentiality.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/documents/one-way-nda · checked 2026-07-30
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