Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Texas

Any attorney will say the way to protect your idea while seeking financing is using a good NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). Consult with a good business attorney in your area for specific advice.

Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. - Mr. Franchise

Franchise Attorney

Mr Murphy is wrong because any GOOD attorney will say the way you protect concepts is with a patent, if you can. The reason is that even independent invention or innocent copying infringes a patent, if not authorized by the patent owner. Independent invention will not violate a secrecy agreement and enforcement of a NDA against breach requires proof of unauthorized disclosure or proof of derivation. Proof of either is very difficult on marketing concepts. Also, an NDA is between the signing parties only, so it does not stop third parties and does not stop anyone unless you can prove they broke the secrecy agreement and you can be reasonably sure they will not make it easy to prove breach. A secrecy agreement (also called a Non-Disclosure Agreement or Confidentiality Agreement)is often worth little more than the paper it is written on in stopping China based companies. Rely on the bad advice of Mr. Murphy and you could well end up losing protection for your concepts, or even worse, infringing a patent to some third party on your concept. Also, if you rely on bad advice and get just an NDA, you may end up delaying long enough to be barred by law from getting a valid patent. Sure, a NDA is better than no protection, but for real protection see a patent attorney not a franchise attorney or "any attorney", so you don't lose valuable patent rights.