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Do I have any legal rights if one of my associates I was working with stole my idea? We were going to work on it together and is now pursuing the idea without me. I did not have him sign an NDA, I just have proof of a trail of emails between us discussing my idea. Thank you for your help!
2 ANSWERS
Yes, you can sue him for breach of an oral partnership, misappropriation under common law and the uniform trade secret act.
Answered on Jun 20th, 2011 at 3:24 PM
Intellectual Property Attorney serving Spokane, WA
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It would be hard to claim there was a theft of trade secrets if you didn't keep the idea confidential. You could consider filing a patent application. Only a true inventor can properly file a patent application. A patent application must be filed within one year of the first sale, offer for sale, or publication, whichever came first, under current US law. We will likely soon switch to a first to file system, though, with no grace period except in limited circumstances.
Answered on Jun 20th, 2011 at 1:21 PM