質問
I sometimes see questions on forums like Quora about how to stop people stealing your invention idea. Does this happen so often in professional experience? Can it really be stopped by having signed NDA or other agreement?
回答: 4 public & 0 非公開
Unfortunately it happens all the time. Probably one of the most famous cases involved the invention of intermittent windshield wipers - luckily the inventor obtained a patent, and yet just about every major automotive company adopted the wipers on their cars without paying the invention a royalty or license fee. He sued and won but it took him literally decades to go through all of the appeals - I believe - I may be wrong - but I believe that eventually he died and his estate carried on the litigation - virtually every automotive company had to pay. So, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to file a patent application and seek a patent - you can initiate the process with a provisional patent application but it must be perfected within one year of the filing date of the provisional application by the filing of a non-provisional or PCT application. The main reason to obtain a patent is that it is an official document - it will obviously not necessarily prevent litigation, as I alluded to hereinbefore, but I believe that it is stronger than a simple NDA or other agreement.
Consult a patent professional.
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