Taking your idea from the drawing board to
the store shelf is going to take many months (or, in some cases, years!) of
dedicated work. During that development process, someone could swoop in and
steal your idea right out from under you.
At least that might be your biggest fear.
This is why you want to make sure your
product or idea is patented, right?
Although that may make sense, during the
development and start-up phase filing for a patent can be a costly and time-consuming
process. So, should you put your great idea on hold?
Absolutely not! Here are some ways you can
protect your idea without using a patent.
Non-disclosure
agreement (NDA)
If
you have any proprietary information or plans that you're going to share, you
should make sure you get a non-disclosure agreement signed by that person
before you show them anything. This is a binding contract that compels the
second party to confidentiality. They can't talk about your product or idea to
anyone else without your permission. You can get a lot of work done with a NDA
without worrying that your idea will get stolen as it is developed.
Non-compete
agreement
This
is an agreement you sign with someone you are hiring for your company. It will
compel them not to start a competing business that could take direct aim at
your profits. For instance, if you've come up with a great new ice cream making
process and you share that with your workers they can't turn around and use
that same process in their own store if they've
signed a non-compete agreement. Of course, if you want to sell them franchises
go for it!
Work-for-hire
agreement
This
is an agreement you'll enter into with a freelance worker who will be lending some
of their talents on certain elements of your product development. With a
work-for-hire contract, you will own all the work that person creates on your
behalf. If they design a killer logo for your brand, under this contract, that
logo will be all yours.
Go provisional
Another
layer of protecting your idea is by filing a provisional patent. This is
something you can do yourself using resources found online. The provisional
patent can throw a "protection net" over your idea for up to one
year. With this type of patent, you can make the claim of "patent
pending." In that year, you should be working out the kinks and lining up
investors. Then you can pull the trigger on the patent. You might also find
that your product has changed greatly in that year. Better to get it right than
to rush into a patent.
