How To Protect Your Invention - Here's Some Legal Help
The problem when you've created an invention is that you probably expect to make money from it. But unless you are a manufacturer or a distibutor you have to license the invention rights to another business. And if you do that, they might steal it and it will no longer be protected by the law. Here, in this article I will share some insider tips on how to avoid that. Keep reading...
First. lets see how the Intellectual Property Law applies to inventions.
According to the trade secret law revealing a secret to the public will result in losing the rights to the secret. According to the patent law, if you disclose information of your invention to the public and you haven't obtained a patent, you have one year from the time of disclosure to apply for patent protection.
But how can you protect your invention? You have two options. File a Provisional Patent Application or use a nondisclosure agreement. To file a Provisional Patent Application your invention must be patentable so if it's not, you are left with the option of using Nondisclosure Agreements which involves to convince the business you are about to share secrets with, to agree to sign the agreement.
To file a Provisional Patent Application means that your invention qualifies for a patent. It might take some time to file the application and acquire -Patent Pending- status. This will cost you about $110 if you are an individual or a small company. Filling the application is easy but just to be sure take some legal advice from an expert.
If your invention is not patentable though, you have the option to convince the business you will be working with, to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement (otherwise called a disclosure agreement). Then you can safely share your invention secrets. If they use your secret without your permission you can sue them. There are many Nondisclosure Agreement formats but generally they include the following information: What is and what isn't confidential information, obligations of the receiving party and time periods.
If the other party does not agree to sign the Nondisclosure Agreement then you can try not to share sensitive trade secrets. Disclose financial and "around' the secret information. If the other party knows what the invention does and what is the cost they will likely sign a nondisclosure agreement if they like the idea.
Learn how to protect your invention using the rules of patent law. Is your invention legally patented under the terms of the patent law? If, not then it's time to protect it. Stop worrying about patent theft and take the chance to educate yourself with this comprehensive inventor's guide. Complete information that will walk you through the process from filling the patent application, to gaining publicity and avoiding costly mistakes. It's all there. All rules exposed!
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By M.Markella
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