Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

As a franchise attorney I can say it's not possible to answer your question without further information and details. If you signed a confidentiality agreement with company #1, that would need to be examined. It's likely this would prohibit you from discussing the same idea with company #2. Consult with a good business or franchise attorney in your area for specific advice.

Mr. Franchise - Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.

Franchise Attorney

Franchise Foundations APC

It depends upon what your confidentiality agreement says.

Usually, if X has an idea, and discloses it to Y, the confidentiality agreement between X and Y will prevent Y for disclosing X's idea to others, but will not prevent X from disclosing his idea to Z.

Nevertheless, it is very possible that the X-Y agreement might preclude X from sharing his secret with Z. The agreement may contain an express provision creating an exclusive and bilateral sharing of the idea, or possibly it could be interpreted as containing X's agreement not to share the idea with any Zs.