Do I Need To Use An NDA?

The most critical ownership and protection interval for inventors is from the time they formulate what appears to be a winning idea and the time they take on a collaborator (investor, distributor, or licensee).

This time is where you balance the risk of protecting your great idea, against the cost of protecting it with - perhaps a patent registration. Although a provisional patent is affordable for most, this must be converted to a full patent within 12 months or it lapses.

This requires that you patent your idea before you can be sure you have sufficient value to provide you a return, or even to just pay the patent costs. Or does it?

You don't specifically need to patent your idea at this time. All you need to do is either not disclose it or commit the parties you intend to disclose it to, to a non-disclosure agreement. This is best prepared by or - at the very least - reviewed by an attorney.

Here is a video explanation I provide to my Inventors Academy members, to help them understand how to use NDAs to protect without committing their savings to a patent.

#invent, #inventing, #funding, #licensing, #invention, #innovation, #IP, #ideas, #startups, #patent, #prototyping, #designthinking, #entrepreneurship, productdevelopment, #R&D, #technology, #creativity, #research, #inventors, #disruptive, #patenting, #inventors, #venturecapital, #entrepreneurship, #manufacturing, #leanstartup, #sustainability, #disruption