I had an idea for an invention and submitted it to one of those invent companies, can they take my idea?

Question

I sent a fax with drawings and detailed like they aske. They said it would cost a certain amount. What can I do now to protect myself

Answer 1

Did you fill out any non-disclosure agreements before submitting your ideas to them?  Probably not.  They said it would cost a certain amount... from my own experience, about $3,000 to $7,000 just to get fancied up drawings back from them and details about your "virtual prototype" and a list of companies that might be interested.  Then, for more money, they will submit those to those companies.  But before they do that, they will want you to sign documents giving them a certain percentage of your royalties.  After a couple of years, if you really do have a good product idea, you might find yourself making a few bucks from it.  Otherwise, expect nothing and in about 5 to 7 years, you might see your product on the shelf for sale anyways from the company you submitted it too. So what I'm basically trying to tell you, is these invention submission companies are scams.  You may be lucky.  If you have the original drawings and ideas, and they haven't done anything yet, you might still be able to get a copyright and trademark registered.  Then if they do steal the idea, you might get the royalties on that.

My recommendation most of the time, is for any product idea that you have, copyright it first.  Then, apply for the patent.  You don't have to actually get it (it is very expensive to do so, and will require the assistance of an attorney in most cases).  Once you have applied, you now have the right to mark the product as patent pending.  You can keep this going for a couple of years with some finesse.  Then, you can take your idea to a company that manufactures something similar or related to your idea, and see if the product can be licensed to them, and you just take the royalty on that.   Or you can try to find a manufacturer who will make your product under contract, and try to sell the end product yourself.  

Bottom line, stay away for the Invention Submission people.  And, you will find a lot of info at the public library, in bookstores and online.  Good luck.

Answer 2

They can if they aren't legit, or if your idea isn't copy written