Too many good posts and sorry if I didn't hit on all of them, but here goes-
Don't know who said this (I think it was Russ_H): "Ideas are cheap but to take action is priceless".
That's MY favorite quote
And yes I believe Russ said it first on here.
Implement the idea A Fast As Possible, that's how you protect it. Become a major player in the market space.
What I learned from From Patent to Profit that is applicable is, business is like inventing and as far as patenting goes this country is a "first to invent" not "first to file" which means when the patent is being filed it is not the guy who put in the papers and just sat back and waited for someone else to invent the item before they invented it and took it to market themselves, BUT the person who actually has record of actually inventing which is why documenting your progress is key in any trademark/patent infringement cases. How this relates is that as long as you work on and implement your business FIRST, then no one can steal it and if someone does steal your marketshare and competes then it is upon you to take it back!
And oh yea, it also discusses that if you have outside help, such as engineers and design personnel work on your project that they sign a non-disclosure and in some cases non-compete document.
Great read! I know I have become much more open about discussing ideas since I got more active her, in fact the only thing holding me back is that I haven't put enough time into any of them to really get the input I'm looking for as opposed to being afraid that someone is going to steal it :smxB:
With that in mind the theme of Feb is gonna be "get the ball rolling!" while I'm still trying to close out January to the theme "get some plans together"
I'm a developer. People hire me to implement their ideas.
Two major points to make:
1) I don't have time to implement other's ideas. That is not my business.
2) A Non-Disclosure agreement is just that, I promise I won't disclose it with anybody else. But, unless the agreement also establish some type of non-compete, then I don't think it is that strong. AND, if it has a non-compete then I WON'T sign it. There are more clients waiting. Why I will not sign it? Because, if it is something I am already working on, by signing this I just kill my own project.
If you have a real concern about this then I suggest you only discuss you ideas with developers that others recommend to you, so you can trust them up to certain point.
Great post Andres! I think this sums up the fact that an investor/consultant can have all the money and experience to start a business, but does not have what the entrepreneur has for that business- time and passion :coolgleamA: