In case a person has perceived an idea of a product, and this idea if brought to shape could be of inordinate economic viability, then he would surely like to make the most out of it. In the process of giving his idea a shape he would face various challenges and hindrances. As an amateur entrepreneur he will face hassles in raising capital and creating an infrastructure for his business and further problems like marketing and so on.
He shall share and discuss his ‘idea” with various people to in order to improve it and to bring it into shape. These people with whom the idea is shared includes technical experts, financing bodies, colleagues and other people with the help of whom the idea shall be put to shape. Whenever the “idea” is shared or discussed with others, there is a risk that the idea may be used by other person for his personal benefit.
The following steps can be taken by a person in order to protect his “idea” before its transformation into a product:
- Provisional Patent Application: A provisional patent application is filed when an invention is not finalized and still under experimentation. The application provides for a 12 month time to the applicant to finalise his invention. Such person gets priority when filing for a patent application. Furthermore the said applicant is allowed to use the phrase “patent pending” for his invention.
- Trademark Application: Getting a trademark registered for a brand name, logo or any other marks which help to identify a person’s company or product is a significant way of protection of an “idea.” As per trademark law a person who has applied for a trademark for a company name or a product may suffix the letter “TM” for the said company name or product even when the trademark is yet to be registered.
- Copyright: Another significant method of protection of an “idea” is obtaining copyright for the product that result as an outcome of the idea. A © mark is used to show that a particular product is copyrighted. A copyright helps in protection of any work of literature, music, art work, music and any work which is created by a person without any sort of cheating.
- Due Diligence: Any person or company should work in such a manner that due attention is paid to all the “ideas” that are proposed to be given material shape. Each and every “idea” should be protected using Intellectual property practice. Due attention should be paid that other person’s intellectual property rights are not infringed.
The above said methods maybe used in order to protect an “idea”while its being transformed into a product.