Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Ohio

Re: IP protection

Yes and No. If you never file a patent application and therefore are never granted a patent, then yes he can steal it. If you file within 1 year of disclosure and are granted protection than no. Of course people lie at times and say they invented it, which means you would need to prove inventorship. Not easy. That is why businesses often file before disclosure. There might be some other possible causes of action against the other party (trade secrets, trademark, etc...but this is a general answer) Happy new years, Justin Lampel