In business, a good product idea is worth protecting. If you feel that you have a good idea for a product, you may be excited to show that idea to potential investors and begin generating revenue. But before you place your product idea in front of corporate America, you need to take steps to protect yourself and your idea. Without the proper preparation, someone could see your idea and then take it for himself. That would cut you out of the process, and you would have to watch someone else profit from your idea.

A Complete Idea

Your final presentation should leave nothing to the imagination. In order to protect your idea, you must first clearly establish what that idea is. You will also need to establish proof that you developed the idea. Keep a log of your daily work as you develop your product idea so that you can show the progression of your product. That will help you establish how you created the idea and help you to protect the idea in court if necessary. Create a detailed set of drawings and a workable prototype before you begin presenting to companies. This will not only help you to sell the idea to companies, but it will also help you patent and protect your product.

Patent

Hire a patent attorney and patent your product idea. Once you have received notification that your patent application has been accepted, you can then use the "patent pending" notation to help let companies know that you own all of the rights to your product. The detailed work you did during development will become essential during the patent process, and you should keep all of your correspondence with your attorney and the patent office together so you can reference it if you need to.

Nondisclosure Agreement

Another layer of protection you should offer yourself when pitching a product idea is a nondisclosure agreement. This is a contract that you should have drawn up by a contract attorney that forces each company that sees your idea to keep it confidential. When you finally do find a company interested in releasing your product, it is important to have control over the marketing of the product to be certain it is targeted to the right audience. Misinformation about your product prior to its release could hurt its success, and a nondisclosure agreement helps to reduce misinformation.

Source:

PowerHomeBiz.com: How to Protect Your Business Idea

StartUpNation: How to Patent a Product Idea

SCORE: Protect Your Trade Secrets With a Nondisclosure Agreement

More Information:

Wall Street Journal: How to Protect Your Product or Idea When Pitching It to a Company