4 Ways to Legally Protect Marvelous Startup Business Ideas

These days startups are a dime a dozen. And India is fast becoming a land for innovative startups.

But most of them aren’t rich and need investor’s backing to fly. For the majority of them, pitching for funds is their greatest concern. There is always a nagging doubt; the investor may refuse to fund but steal the idea and start on his own.

"How to protect this brilliant idea?" or "How can I approach an investor without disclosing much regarding the idea?" or how can I ask someone to join me without revealing much?"

To ease these doubts and keep competitors at bay; we had sought legal advice from Delhi-based lawyer. Following are 4 major pointers.

First, you should understand – an idea cannot be protected legally. Strictly speaking, an idea expressed in conversation and intangible are not eligible for protection.

Execute

You will have to execute your idea first. Gather your team carefully and gradually build your brand. If you Google search, you’ll find not a single investor interested in just an idea. They are looking for a working idea with a team. Some legal advisors insist on getting non-disclosure agreements signed by co-workers and associates. Check the practicality and work on it.

Protection

Your business idea is the most valuable asset to you. And adding IP protection to it, increases chances of attracting investments.

• Getting your idea patented can be a very costly affair and still the fear of your idea being stolen nags you. The provisional patent comes to your rescue. It protects your idea for only twelve months with no options for extensions. But of course, your idea has to be novel, useful, and concrete with tangible results. Even the words "patent pending" can discourage potential copycats.
• Protect valuable assets within your Company like devices, gadgets, data, etc. It could be something as simple as a plagiarism software or a complicated code to thaw misuse or encrypted channels for extra protection.

Trademark

Extra lamination of protection – trademark. Your logo, slogan and company’s name is always co-related to the idea which is now a brand. Establishing a trademark can prevent legal issues from arising. Thus invest adequate money and time, do a thorough brand research and its defense, in order to avoid infringements.

Research

We are not talking about your idea here. It’s through background research on potential investor or client. With information easily available, one can determine the reputation of a business or a person. Thus approaching a potential company gets easier.

As the business grows, pitching to potential investors gets increasingly important. A startup repeatedly reveals details of his business to various people. Working on the above points the ongoing concerns of theft can be minimized. They also provide free online legal advice which can be sought to ease any further doubts.

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