Submitting an Unsolicited Idea to a Company
It's not uncommon to come up with a brilliant idea and think that any company might want take the time to discover the next MAC computer or other ground breaking accomplishment. Unfortunately, many companies, particularly established companies, not only will reject unsolicited submissions, but they have created policies that require their advertising and marketing departments to reject them outright. Microsoft is one such company. Microsoft has an Unsolicited Idea Submission Policy which states that "Microsoft or any of its employees do not accept or consider unsolicited idea, including ideas for new advertising campaigns, new promotions, new products or technologies..." The list goes on to include other creative ideas and emphasizes that original creative artwork or even samples should not be sent. The reason most companies go out of their way to warn people not to submit such ideas is to avoid potential litigation or disputes down the road regarding intellectual property ownership.
Protecting Your Creative Ideas
Companies do not want unsolicited ideas because many people do not take the steps to protect such ideas in the first place through proper copyright or trademark registration through the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. That would help to establish the origin of the idea. All sorts of ownership problems could ensue if an idea is submitted to a big company and such companies do not want this kind of hassle or potential expense. Registration doesn't mean that companies will still want to see the registered idea. Ownership may not be an issue, but a false accusation of intellectual property theft might be. Companies may prefer to just play things safe.
If you are fortunate enough to meet someone who could help you develop your idea, it's a good idea not to lay out every detail and use a non-disclosure agreement if you want to discuss the idea more fully. Of course, make sure that you have taken all the steps to establish your ownership of that idea. If you are located in Phoenix, Arizona, contact one of our trademark attorneys to advise on copyright or trademark registration, protection or non-disclosure agreements.
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