NDA Use Restrictions — Use With Caution

Much attention deservedly has been focused on the recent Delaware Chancery and Supreme Court decisions in the high-profile Vulcan/Martin Marietta case where the courts found that a “use restriction” in a confidentiality agreement (i.e., a provision that limits the recipient’s “use” of the disclosing party’s confidential information to a specified purpose) could in certain circumstances preclude the recipient from later commencing a hostile offer for a target company even absent an explicit standstill.