Most entrepreneurs are petrified about the prospect about someone ‘stealing their idea’. This post is not about protecting an idea which you have not thought through yourself. This is about when, why and how you can seek protection of intellectual property you have developed and believe to be an original contribution. That being said, the best way to probably protect an idea when it is still not yet fully worked through is to not reveal it at all and instead validate the problem area that the idea seeks to address.
For startups, it may be best to file a provisional patent at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and then use the one year period (provisional patent holders get to work on the final patent application) to discuss and evaluate the merit of applying for a full patent. Most readers may not have seen a patent application, so the first presentation shows a copy of a patent and its constituent parts. The presentation is a bit hazy and you can download a copy from SlideShare if you want a legible copy. Or you can contact Dilip at GreyB services, the Intellectual property management firm, that has made this presentation especially available for our readers.
The second presentation dwells on the basics of when and why you should seek to protect your intellectual property.