How can we protect our own invention idea or design?

To protect your interests, consider two common strategies employed by inventors, amateur and professional alike. First, you can file a provisional patent application (if your invention is patentable). Second, you can use a nondisclosure agreement (regardless of whether it is patentable).

How do you protect an idea before sharing it?

Three Ways to Protect Your Original Idea

1. Which Kind of Protection Does Your Idea Need? Legal protection falls into three basic categories: copyrights, trademarks, and patents.
2. About Copyrights.
3. About Trademarks.
4. About Patents.
5. Provisional Patents.
6. The Trade Secrets Law.
7. What Happens if Someone Steals Your Idea?

Can I be sued for copying a product?

The short answer is that you can, but you would need to be very clear about the limits of copying. Even then, you may still be sued by the original owner despite having taken every imaginable step to make sure your copy was legal. There have been some recent examples of blatant copying of a competitor’s product.

What does a design right protect?

Design rights protect the appearance of a product. This can be the whole or part of a product resulting from the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials, or ornamentation of the product itself.

How do I patent a website idea?

To qualify for patent protection, a website idea must be useful, new, and non-obvious….Here are the steps to patenting a website idea:

1. Prepare drawings and diagrams of your website.
2. Write patent claims.
3. Write a website description.
4. File the patent application.
5. Respond to USPTO correspondence in a timely manner.

Do I need a patent to protect my idea?

The short answer is no. Unfortunately, despite what you may have heard from late night television commercials, there is no effective way to protect an idea with any form of intellectual property protection. Copyrights protect expression and creativity, not innovation. Neither copyrights or patents protect ideas.