Submitting Ideas to Procter & Gamble

You want to submit an invention to Procter & Gamble? You have to abide by its terms.

In the early going, that means you can only submit non-confidential information –information you wouldn’t mind also sharing publicly.

P&G “does not receive unsolicited ideas under any circumstances or conditions, express or implied, that could create a confidential relationship or a contractual relationship between P&G and the idea submitter.”

Anything it receives from you will be considered public information. The company doesn’t come out and say “get a patent,” but it sure does imply it.

“I will rely solely on my intellectual property rights, such as any applicable patent, trademark, copyright and design registrations (collectively, “IP Rights”) to protect information included with my Submission,” the company’s guidelines state. “I understand that the protection I have for information included in my Submission is limited to the scope of my IP Rights.”

Adding:

“I understand that I must seek appropriate legal protection for my IP Rights (for example, filing a patent application or a trademark registration with appropriate government patent and trademark offices) before disclosing my ideas to anyone (including P&G or any other party) on a non-confidential basis, or I may risk losing the ability to protect my ideas with IP Rights according to applicable law.”

You do not sign over your IP rights when you submit to P&G.

However, any aspect of your submission not protected by “valid, enforceable IP Rights or a written, formal contract may be commercially used by any third party, including P&G.”

If P&G and you decide it’s worthwhile to discuss confidential information, both parties will sign a non-disclosure agreement.