How to Protect Your Invention When Pitching It
If you're trying to license your invention, protect it by filing a provisional patent application or using a nondisclosure agreement.
If you've developed a potentially marketable invention, you are faced with a dilemma. To make money from the invention, you must generally license the rights to it to another business, often a manufacturer or distributor. But in pitching the invention to potential licensees, you run the risk of disclosing so much information that the invention might be stolen or no longer protected by law.
So how can you shop your invention around without jeopardizing your rights? To protect yourself you can file a provisional patent application (if your invention is patentable) or use a nondisclosure agreement (if it is not patentable). If a potential licensee refuses to sign a nondisclosure agreement, take extra precautions.
(To learn more about another option for making money from your invention, manufacturing and marketing the invention yourself, see Should You License or Manufacture Your Invention?)
Filing a Provisional Patent Application
If your invention potentially qualifies for a patent, it may be worth your while to file a provisional patent application ($110 for individuals or small companies) and obtain "patent pending" status. Most often, this will deter rip-offs. For more information on filing a provisional patent application, see Provisional Patent Applications: Quickest Way to "Patent Pending".
Using Nondisclosure Agreements
However, if you determine that the invention is probably not patentable, the best way to protect yourself is to have prospective licensees sign a nondisclosure agreement (sometimes called a disclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement) before you disclose any secrets. If someone signs a nondisclosure agreement and later uses your secret without authorization, you can sue for damages. (To see examples of various nondisclosure agreements as well as detailed explanations of their provisions, check out NDAs for Free.)
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