I have an idea for a large company. Should I patent it first before I contact them?

9 May 2017
In Blog, Law, Patents
By Mark Warburton, the IP Guru

I have an idea for a large company. Should I patent it first before I contact them?

You cannot patent a mere idea.

However, if your idea is at the prototype stage, a patent might be useful to you at least from the perspective of having some chance of preventing the large company from simply taking your idea as their own when you disclose it to them. An NDA (non-disclosure agreement) is also useful but not as useful as a patent to help to prevent this.

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Mark Warburton About the author

The Intellectual Property Guru. His determination to protect innovation stems from a family legacy in which his grandfather, a genius inventor, had his innovations stolen and patented by someone he trusted, which led to his grandfather dying a pauper on a park bench. Mark is an international award winning lawyer and patent attorney and 3-time published author. His prowess in the court room sees him winning cases that others thought were unwinnable. Mark’s passion for protecting intellectual property shines through in his pro-bono legal mentoring, proactive legal workshops and 1-2-1 work with clients.