Hi,
I've developed a little software package and will now go and do the sell to various companies in the target industry.
I was wondering what people do to protect their ideas from being stolen by the companies you show the idea to.
I'd like to get the company to sign some kind of agreement so they can't reverse engineer or develop the same/similar software themselves.
Is there a standard way to do this? How do other developers deal with this problem?
Any ideas are much appreciated.
Patent is how you protect yourself. If your idea is unique and truly valuable you can obtain a patent to protect your idea in law.
You can probably cover some of it (reverse engineering) in your license. If it's really that simple that anyone could re-build it that easily chances are you don't have something that unique.
If it is unique it probably has enough value to a business to simply use it to make money. Most businesses focus on making dollars with the right tools, not saving pennies and spending thousands of dollars of their own to re-invent the wheel.
When I make something and they get the code, I break it up into two parts.
Type "A" is stuff they requested for their competitive advantage. Custom.
Type "B" stuff is my pre-made libraries and code base that I re-use. They get a license to use, but not re-sell.
If they were using my product altogether, I'd make it so that they simply own a license. I'm sure there's a ton of people who can weigh in on this.. good question though. I'm not entirely sure if there's a lot to worry about.
If it was a million dollar sale you would have hired a good lawyer by now. Get something built and sell it! :)
Firstly, you shouldn't ask for legal advice on a technical forum, if for no other reason than you shouldn't rely on legal advice you get from people who are not legal professionals (including mine below).
Patenting your invention seems like it would work, but it takes years. Probably not what you had in mind just to talk to prospective investors/buyers.
What you're describing sounds like a form of Non-Disclosure Agreement. I'd talk to a lawyer to prepare such a document.
Nolo Press makes books and guides for legal documents, which may be a less expensive way to do what you want. Here are a couple of relevant articles:
Having worked for a largish company, I've been on the other end of evaluating software. Basically, many companies will be pleased you can solve their problem - and they're not interested in doing it themselves. And quite frankly, there's a LOT of crappy software out there. Do a half-decent job and you'll be onto a winner.
So, unless (as has been pointed out above) your idea is so simple that anybody could do it easily, then I wouldn't be worrying too much.
Good luck!
I guess that it is a question of pricing and effort. It is unlikely that your envisioned customers would throw more resources at developing this for their own than the cost of just buying it from you is worth.