How To Protect Business Ideas And Secrets From Being Stolen

If you have a business idea then this post is for you. Here, we have written about ‘How to stop your business idea from being stolen?‘

Though business idea theft seems to be very rare it is happening even when all the things are in place.Business ideas are just like a Money, it can be stolen by anyone at anytime. In the past, there are many cases, where ideas theft has happened. For Example

In 2004, ConnectU filed a lawsuit against Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg.This lawsuit alleged that Mark Zuckerberg has illegally used the source code of the website for which he was hired.

If you look at the history then there are many such cases of idea theft. From Radio to Steam Engine there has been a number of cases where the business ideas were actually stolen.

Do you know, Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray both invented the telephone in 1876? There is evidence that a patent officer was bribed to give the details.

You read more about such cases in this article.

You may also think that if you do not disclose your idea to anyone then how one could steal it?

But how could you forget that for getting a new investor or client you need to disclose your ideas to them? In the entire business journey, you need to reveal your ideas to many people.Of Course, there is an ongoing concern for the idea theft, but you can’t do anything in this case.

Protect Your Idea From Theft

A question may arise if it is so important to share ideas with other then how you can protect your idea from theft?

There are a few steps businesses can take to help prevent theft of the business ideas.

Don’t Disclose to Everyone

There is no need of disclosing your idea to everyone. Disclose it only if it is necessary.

Don’t discuss your idea with your friends and relatives, otherwise, it will ruin both your idea as well as the relation.

Lots of Documentation

Documentation and lots of more Documentation. This is the only way to prevent your idea from being theft. Documented all your data and information you’re sharing with others. The more you documents, the lesser the chance of theft.

In future, these documents will act an evidence for the originality of your idea.

Get it Registered

Legal Registration is the best way to protect your business idea. Of course, it is not possible to get a copyright and trademark for the business which is not in existence. But in such a case, you can at least take the Provisional Registration for your business idea.

Non-Disclosure Clause

As the name suggests it is a clause that can be added to the agreement to keep certain pieces of shared information confidential and private. In simple language, after adding this clause, your investors and clients will not able to share your business idea with anyone.

So add this Non-Disclosure Clause to your agreement for protecting your idea from being stolen.

Don’t Reveal Too Much

In the normal course of business, you may require disclosing your business idea to others. But don’t reveal too much information to them. Reveal only that much information which is required and Important.

Further, ensured that you do not reveal main USP (Unique Selling Proposition) to them. Incomplete and Short Information will be the best option in this type of cases.

Now your turn. If you knew any other way to protect your business idea from others then please do share with us in the below comment box. Further, feel free to contact us if you face any problem in implementing any of the above-mentioned ways to protect your business ideas from being stolen.