invention - next step

[amidaiwish]

hi,
my friend has an absolutely fantastic product idea and wants me to work on making it happen with her.
today we bought the relevant domains
lots to do... what do we have to do between us to formalise the agreement?

obviously she has shared the idea with me and i'm not going to nick it, but otoh i don't want to start doing a lot of work on it without a formal agreement. i also think it's fairer on her too that i formalise it is her idea.

can you help?

[prh47bridge]

Go to a solicitor and get a formal partnership agreement drawn up. Or if you prefer you could form a limited company, splitting the shares between you to reflect your ownership (50/50, 60/40 or whatever). Even if you go down the limited company route you may want to take legal advice as you may want the articles of association written in a way that gives you both protection.

If the idea is patentable you should get a patent as soon as possible in order to protect your intellectual property.

[cwtchy]

I agree with the poster above, you should look into getting a patent application filed. You can't patent everything but if it is an actual product with technical features you might be able to.

If the idea is patentable, it's really important you don't discuss or show the product to anyone else at all until you have filed a patent application. Don't give any details on here for example!

[amidaiwish]

thanks both, no i won't tell anyone anything, don't worry!
i am not sure it is patentable, i have looked at that, but will see. might just be a case of first to market.

Thanks.