ANSWER from Bob Bell, patent attorney
People can always steal your invention (or parts of it). T he question is, can you do anything about it? If your patent doesn't issue, then you have no protection and cannot sue them. Also, if your patent is unduly narrow, you might not be able to sue them for infringement.
Should you disclosure your idea to others? Well, you can't make any money keeping it secret, can you? In order to succeed (at anything) you have to take risks. The trick is to minimize risks.
You have taken a good first step in filing for a patent -- you have something "on file" to (hoepfully) protect yourself.
You could also ask the companies to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) but don't be surprised if they say "NO!" What, after all, is in it for them (except the opportunity to get sued). Most companies will not sign an NDA, of if they will, will sign only their form (which is really more of a _disclosure_ agreement, not an NDA).
So, you are left with two choices--keep your idea secret, take no risks, and make no money, or disclose your idea, hope that it is patentable, and hope to get a licensee. It is not an easy decision to make!
You could "wait" until the patent issues, but I see no point in doing that. If that patent does not issue, those companies are free to use the technology anyway. Moreover, it can take years to get a patent -- by then the technology might be obsolete.
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ANSWER from Mark Francis, Openize Ideas Inc.
I would suggest that prior to disclosing your product idea to potential manufacturers or distributors that you have them sign a non-disclosure agreement. This should help prevent those that you do disclose to from taking the idea further without your permission.
Also, be aware that others can "knock off" a product while it is pending. It is only after one is patented that one can go after the "knock off" artists provided that there is a case of infringement.
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ANSWER from Jim Petruzzi, co-creator of PatentPro software
Patent infringement is when the accused product has all the elements of any one claim that issues in the patent. Others are free to take some, but not all, of the elements of your claim and add to it without infringing. Also, there is a doctrine of equivalents, where although they did not copy the claims literally, for the most part they did substantially the same thing in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same results, often by simply substituting obvious variations for elements in your claim. However, this is once the patent issues, during patent pending status, there are no patent rights to enforce.
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