Alternative Energy Forums

I am a college student with an idea for an invention which could save energy. It it just an idea at this point, it has not been patented or tested, and I was wondering if you could give me an idea of who who I could talk to about moving this idea forward. For legal reasons I wish to keep the idea a secret so it is not stolen. Who could I talk to about this without leaking information about the invention?

Philip Narsh

When I went to college there was an office just for patent information so you might want to check around to see if you have one. You can also check the patent websites. For the US it’s uspto.org

Yeti

I hope you get help real soon. We need all the ideas we can get.

dennisanderton

You should talk to your professor about how to go about this as well. You don’t have to go into all the details of the invention. My husband has just gone through this process - the important thing is to verify that there is no current patent out there for something similar. I wish I could tell you how else to go about that, however, he is in Germany and the steps there are different than here. If nothing else, fork out the money for an attorney (which is what we did) to get some guidance.

Cassandra

Before you discuss anything with anyone you need them to sign a confi for short. It is a non-disclosure, non-compete agreement. Don't worry too much about someone stealing your idea. Go with your instincts, if you feel worried about discussing with that person don't do it. Be proud of your idea. You will know when it is the right person to discuss it with. But get them to sign an agreement first. You can download free ones off of the internet. It shouldn't be more than 3 pages. Good luck!

i-maggen