Steps to Take When You Have a Brilliant Idea

.You stumbled on what you think is a brilliant idea for a business. What should you do next? How can you protect your idea and make sure no one steals it from you?

From the book “Your Little Legal Companion: Helpful Advice for Life’s Big Events” published by Nolo, here are 10 steps to take when you have a brilliant idea:

1. Before anything else, think of the marketability of your idea.
2. File a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to give you a patent pending status for at least a year.
3. You need to use “reasonable methods of secrecy” to protect your idea, including non-disclosure agreements and labelling your materials as confidential.
4. Patent protection is not equal to money. Only 3% of patent applications are turned into commercial products.
5. No trade, no trademark.
6. Search the patent office records at USPTO or hire a professional patent searcher to check if no one has patented your idea before.
7. Patents or trademarks only give you the right to go after those who infringe on your idea. You still have to go after the infringers, and that means money.
8. Know the feasibility of manufacturing your product. If the cost per unit is higher than competing products, you are not likely to get the deal — even if your idea is brilliant.
9. There will be deductions. If you go for licensing, watch out for a long list of deductions before coming up with your royalty amount.
10. Have any more ideas? Successful inventors come up with lots of ideas; they don’t rely on just one.

SOURCE: 10 Tips When You Have a Brilliant Idea