|
Can I disclose it? Author of the tutorial : TheLoneInventor Helps you to determine if you should disclose your invention 1 There must be a good reason 2 Okay, I need to disclose, but how do I trust them? 3 What are the types of non-disclosure agreements? 1 There must be a good reason Often inventors can't wait to tell the world about what they have created. This can be the downfall of thier profitability. There must be a good reason for disclosing information about your invention to anyone. Casual conversation does not count.Do they really need to know? Who needs to know about your new invention? The world of course! But perhaps you shouldn't be to hasty on the way out the door with it. There are only a few select and trusted individuals that need to know the ins and outs of your invention. These people would include your patent lawyer, prototyped, engineer, drafter, or other people you have done business with specifically related to the invention itself. Does this incluse your supplier of magnet wire, when he askes you "what are you building this time?" No! it does not. Although he is a nice fellow, and a passing aquantance, the inventor should not be disclosing proprietary information over the counter for no reason. Great uncle Ted doesn't need to know either. I know he will be proud of you, but he doesn't need to know the details of your innovation. Will uncle Ted steal yuour idea from you? Never! But he does hang out down at the bowling alley with a bunch of rich shadey characters, and has a pentient for "sharing stories" as he calls it. 2 Okay, I need to disclose, but how do I trust them? Short answer, you can't. Longer answer, most of the businesses engaged in the area of intellectual property development, specifically prototypers, engineers, drafters etc. are very comfortable dealing with you under the protection of a Non-Disclosure/Non-Compete Agreement. They know thier business, and they want to protect themselves as well. Many of them may not do business with you until an agreement is signed, a very refreshing experience. Under one of these legal contracts, you can trust almost anyone as long as they are within your monetary reach tp pursue in the event of infringement.Use a legal contract. Many inventors use what is called a "non-discloser/non-compete agreement" or "NDA" which protects thier rights to the invention. This is an essential tool for the inventor. A sample NDA is available for free in our downloads section. If you need some help prototyping your invention, signing an Inventor/Mechanic agreement would be a very wise idea. The prototyper has to know exactly what it is in order to produce a copy of it. This makes his completely aware of your intellectual property however. What's to stop him from taking the device and exploiting it himself? An inventor/mechanic agreement. 3 What are the types of non-disclosure agreements? These agreements basically fall into three categories. Non disclosure agreements, non-disclosure/non-compete agreements, and inventor/mechanic non-disclosure/non-compete agreements.What are the differences? If you are using the services of a prototyper, an inventor/mechanic agreement would be the one for you. It includes special language speciafically relating to the relationship between the prototyper, and the inventor. Therefore it offeres the best protection in this circumstance. If you are sending this invention to a prospective manufacturer, you had better choose the non-disclosure/non-compete agreement with them. It is the only one that will protect you from disclosure, and unauthorized use. If you want to show the invention to a friend or family member, with good reason or not, try to get them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You know they won't steal it, this just legally says they are not supposed to talk about it, and therefore makes them less likely to do so. A Non-Disclosure Agreement Says Basically: That the signer agrees not to disclose the information disclosed to them. This information will be held confidentail until one of a few conditions are met. These include, permission from the inventor to disclose the information. The information becomes known to the signer by some other means, not affiliated in any way with the inventor (another source) or, the information becomes publicly know because the inventor makes it public, or someone else make it public. A Non Disclosure/Non-Compete Agreement Says Basically: The exact same thing as the NDA, only with the addition that they will not attempt to produce, or profit from the production of said information without express permission from the inventor. This also includes "assigning" right to any innovation suggested, added, or otherwise proposed to the inventor, by the signer reguarding the said information. An Inventor/Mechanic Agreement Says Basically Everything you will find in a non-disclosure/non-compete agreement, with special additions specifiaclly designed for the situations of the prototyper or the inventor. For instance, the prototyper is not bound to confidentiality from discussing the device with other technitions in his shop. Any tooling neccessary is kept by the shop for re-use etc. There are many different types of simple legal agreements signed between business partners in this business. You can write one up yourself that matches your particular needs, and those of the persons you are working with. After you have seen a couple of them, you get the basic idea. |