Comment Re:NDA (Score 1) 167
I may be a little cynical here, but don't expect a NDA to keep a VC firm from discussing an idea, or even "steering" another team in their stable to make their product more like your proposal. They're investors, and their motivation is to maximize return on their investments, period.
On the other hand, many companies are pretty good about honoring NDAs, especially if they have to disclose some of their plans to you as part of the discussions.
As for patents, they're good for protecting inventions, but take time to file and are costly to maintain (by taking infringing parties to court.) Since talking to a VC isn't "public disclosure," it doesn't start the clock ticking on a patent filing anyway. So, maybe a reasonable approach would be to make sure you have solid documentation (dated, signed lab notebooks, drawings, etc.) of your patentable invention, but don't spend the bucks on a patent attourney out of your own pocket. If the VCs fund you, you'll be in a better financial position to proceed.
On the other hand, many companies are pretty good about honoring NDAs, especially if they have to disclose some of their plans to you as part of the discussions.
As for patents, they're good for protecting inventions, but take time to file and are costly to maintain (by taking infringing parties to court.) Since talking to a VC isn't "public disclosure," it doesn't start the clock ticking on a patent filing anyway. So, maybe a reasonable approach would be to make sure you have solid documentation (dated, signed lab notebooks, drawings, etc.) of your patentable invention, but don't spend the bucks on a patent attourney out of your own pocket. If the VCs fund you, you'll be in a better financial position to proceed.
