Basically the term of the NDA indicates how long will the NDA last. Mostly, the standard use for NDAs ranges from 1 to 5 years depending on the nature of the transaction or market condition. Usually a employer or business owner would want to enforce an NDA for as long as possible to maintain confidentiality. Employees/buyers are against being bound by an NDA for an indefinite period of time as it does not specify when their obligation is to end. For this reason, it is rare to see NDAs operating indefinitely as its not fair to the other party. Ideally, NDAs will cover an appropriate time to protect the disclosing party’s interest keeping in mind that the other party is not burdened.
If a term of operation is not specified in the agreement, the parties may imply that the NDA will be in effect indefinitely. A term to be missed like this is not uncommon and frequently occurs when the agreement is based on an ongoing relationship. Although, most NDAs will expire after some point, usually upon agreement of the parties.