Intellectual Property -related services. You should be fully aware of your rights and the pros and cons of formal IP protection before you disclose your idea or invention with any firm or audience.
Many inventors disclose their inventions without even knowing that they have done so.
Keep in mind that if you discuss an idea, make a presentation at a conference, or give descriptive documents to a potential client, you may have made a public disclosure. This means that you will weaken or lose your claim to the intellectual property if you have not filed for patent or other form of intellectual property protection. If you work within a university, government, or larger corporate context, your organization probably has a disclosure process in place. If you do not have access to internal expertise, a good patent lawyer or agent will be able to advise you on this process. Intellectual property protection provides you, as the owner of the IP, the right to prevent others from using your technology or idea for a given period of time.