If you have the next million-dollar app idea, it’s only natural to be concerned about telling someone what it is. Unless you’re a programmer and are planning to code your app yourself, the problem is it’s going to be pretty hard to find a mobile app developer to code your app if you won’t tell the developer your idea. So … how can you protect your idea when discussing its details with a developer or advisor? We get asked this question all the time. Here are some things to think about.
- Get a Non-Disclosure Agreement. A non-disclosure agreement, often referred to as an NDA, is a document that obligates the developer to keep information about your project secret. Most reputable developers will appreciate your concern about loss of the idea and will have NDA forms for your consideration. That said, experienced developers understandably tend to be a bit jaded when people tell them they have the next billion-dollar mobile app idea. If a mobile app developer resists signing an NDA before getting any information at all about your idea, it could be because he doesn’t know whether you are serious about the project (or have the money to fund development) and he doesn’t want to spend the time and effort on a dead end discussion. It may be possible to give the developer a “30,000 foot view” of your app idea, giving him enough information to allow preliminary discussion of the project without disclosing all the details. If more detail is needed, be prepared to convince the developer that you have the desire and money to make your project a reality as many developers understandably do not want to sign an NDA for every prospective project. If the developer still won’t sign an NDA and you really think one necessary, look elsewhere for development assistance.
- Hire an attorney. What if you don’t like the NDA suggested by the developer or you are not comfortable about the process? Hire an attorney to advise you about your rights and how to protect them. Look for an attorney with experience in intellectual property law. Good “IP” lawyers are not cheap, but if you are planning to spend thousands of dollars to have an app developed, money spent protecting your idea is money well spent.
- Don’t worry about it. This might sound a bit crazy and we’re not saying it’s right for every idea, but the likelihood that a reputable app development company will steal your idea is low (of course, that assumes you’re talking to reputable developers). Remember that coding the app is only the first step of many on the road to making an app idea a commercial success. In addition to the moral issues of stealing some else’s idea, the practical problems (costs of bringing the idea to market, danger of a lawsuit if the project is successful, etc.) will generally prevent all but the most brazen crooks from swiping what’s yours. Is it possible they would go to this all trouble? Sure. Is it likely?
With respect to protection of ideas, there’s a decent case to be made that “great” app ideas are a dime a dozen; it is the execution of your vision (design, coding, implementation, and marketing) that makes a successful project. Still, if you’re worried about someone stealing your idea, talk to prospective app developers about the issue and about signing an NDA or talk to an attorney.
If you have other thoughts about protecting mobile app ideas, leave a comment.
Hey Mark!
I think it is worth noting a couple key points here in order to make sure everyone has a counterbalancing perspective.
Most developers an entrepreneur would want to work with won’t sign an NDA *simply for the opportunity to quote an app*. They’ll sign them – just not for the privilege of talking about the project.
Why? Because they want to rip off unsuspecting entrepreneurs? Well, maybe some – but an NDA won’t stop those guys anyway. The vast majority of skilled developers understand what an NDA is and isn’t for.
A Non-Disclosure Agreement is a legally binding contract between the parties. The purpose of this contract is to enforce trade secrets that meet the standards of novelty as defined by the US Patent and Trademark Office. That is, your idea is so unique (a-la “novel”) that it wouldn’t be obvious to someone skilled in the art of doing whatever it is you do.
A person signs an NDA and agrees to say they won’t share that proprietary and completely novel information around in a way that would be harmful to the person who had the idea to begin with.
This is where it gets *really* important and the place I see most entrepreneurs mess up.
If you need a quote for your app, you should figure out how to describe it to prospective suppliers without giving away your secret recipe. For example, describing your product as “a fizzy drink that has a cola taste and an extra little zip at the end” is descriptive enough for us to know you’re talking about something like Coca-Cola without giving us the exact formula for what you want to make. If I’m in the business of making things like soft drinks, I can get you an estimate of what your fizzy drink will cost you within an acceptable range.
Your goal at this point in the process is to figure out whether or not you can trust the development shop that responds to your request for a quote.
- Do you think they can do the work?
- Do you like their approach?
- What do their customers say about them?
- Can they show you relevant work that looks remotely like what you want to build?
You can determine all these things with a good solid description of what you want to build but without revealing your proprietary formula. No NDA is going to protect a weak idea.
The goal should be finding the 1 dev team you trust. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and put an NDA in front of them along with a letter of intent. Basically, tell them “I believe you can do the work and I want to use you for the project.”
The entrepreneur wins and the dev wins. They set up a long term relationship of trust and show everyone they’ve got brains for business and making money – not just an idea for a cool app.
[...] nondisclosure agreement] before I’ll tell them my idea.” We blogged about this in our post How can I keep someone from stealing my great app idea? Because we keep hearing questions about NDAs, here are a few more thoughts on the [...]
I have an app which is 90% finished. My developers need me to pay about 4,000 approx for the completion. I didnt expect it to cost this must.. I work a 9-5pm job check to check.. I dont have the money..I need an investor. Should i ask the developer to invest in me and negotiate a % of my net profit cost to them, because i dont have the start up money?
Sharon – have you looked at our post on different ways to finance app development? You may be able to find a developer who will finish the project for a piece of the equity, but most developers turn down such deals.
Mark
Hi Mark,Lets assume that I have an Idea for an APP that is a bit of a game changer. In theory something will likely change the entire social interaction with people and phones. Sounds like crazy talk I know.
I have the idea but no computer programming experience.This App would likely would take a team of developers to create.I can fund it but need a ‘good’ team of developers. How do we find to ‘good ones’
Brue – how you find a “good” team of developers is a great question. We have a few posts on this subject, including our posts on Finding a Developer for Your App Idea and How to Hire an iOS Developer. We can help by sending your development quote request to experienced developers in our network, but when it gets right down to it, you’re going to have to interview prospective developers and satisfy yourself the one you choose is the right one for your project. If a call would be helpful, shoot me an email and we’ll set up a Skype call.
Mark
have you any good developers to recommend in BC canada?
Charles – we do not currently have any developers with physical offices in BC, but there are plenty of developers in our network who can work with you to develop your mobile app. Depending on the size of your project, they may come to you or you may be able to do everything by videoconference, telephone calls, etc. If you’re interested in getting quotes from developers in our network, fill out our quote request form and we’ll get you started.
Mark
I have just hired some Kenyans to make my website and app. I have thirty websites already on the server, and I have given them complete access to all folders and databases. There was no realistic way for me to back anything up. These sites’ backends have paypal login information filled in, and I assume, unencrypted. I only have around $200 in all accounts. My payment to them will be $3000 upon completion. What should I do? How can I demand proof of trustworthiness? I am in Sydney. The same job here has been quoted an average of $125,000.
Paul – the post was directed more at how to protect your app idea than passwords, financial information, etc. you might give to your developers. If you’re concerned about the integrity of your accounts and other information, there are various steps you can take, starting with changing your passwords.
I read your post and wondering how it turned out? Was the app delivered successfully without breaches? BTW, I am curious because I am a mobile designer and developer based in Montreal.
Paul, I raised the same question to godaddy (my server host) and they gave me two ways: 1) to use FTP and give only server IP address to the developers so they can upload the relevant files and dont have access to all folders; (2) assign them a site management account whereby they have access only to folders of a particular site not all sites on the hosting server, so that the deveoper doesnt copy / destry files for sites other than they are working on. . I really dont understand why your developers have been given the paypal login info ! We hear so many scams / frauds coiming from Africa (nothing against Africans, but thats what I have been reading – someone also tried to rob me off online too but i was cautious and pushed them away)
[...] reputable developer will understand your concern about losing your idea. However, according to appmuse.com, “experienced mobile app developers tend to be a bit jaded when people tell them they have the [...]
Hi Mark,
Can we patent our idea instead of signing an NDA, or before signing an NDA with the developers. If yes how do we go about doing a global patent?
Praleed – thanks for the inquiry. Unfortunately, the ins and outs of patent law are way beyond the scope of what we do. If you think you have an idea that could be patented, you’d be well served by a consult with an attorney who specializes in intellectual property law.
Mark
As a developer I would never sign a NDA until i’ve been guaranteed a contract, and a handsome one at that! Why would I take on the additional liability if I’m only going to quote a job?
I have multiple clients and projects of my own, what is to say that I have not come across a parody of your ‘high level’ idea…what I mean is I talk to clients all the time that think they have the next best thing since sliced bread, but it’s either a rip off of something else, not very well though out, or just impossible…if it’s truly genuine then get a patent, …ideas are NOT patentable, my idea is to create an information stealing robot do I get 7% if someone else creates it? No I have to document the design and specifics behind getting that technology to work, I see this way to much in the industry, someone comes up with a lousy idea and wants to sue the first person who creates something tangentially related……as they said in the social network, “If you wanted to create Facebook, you would have already done it”
Hello Mark,
I am a sophmore in game and simulation programming with tons of game ideas. My grandmother always told me to write out full description as possible, with as much information about the idea as i could. Once doing this mailing it to myself and not opening it until needed to prove that the property was mine and dated by the USPS. As a student I have done this with a dozen or so ideas. Would this hold any ground when talking to other developers about my idea,finding source code and posting questions in forums that might tip expert programmers off on taking this idea while in indie development?
Under U.S. copyright law, the envelope trick does not offer you any protection. Forget about it real fast (I mean it).
Hey what if you have a developer who live in another country. How can the NDA form be strong when its no done here in the states?
Jeff – the best way to avoid that problem is to use a developer in the country where you live. That’s one of the reasons we send quote requests from customers in the US to US-based developers. Also, you might get lower development quotes from developers in other countries, but you could end up paying way more if your app project is not developed properly.
Mark
All the major “app distribution channels” (Google, Apple, Amazon) are based in the U.S. Shutting down the distribution of the offending app under the DMCA within the U.S. should not present a problem, but it will cost you. As for distribution outside of the U.S., it’s anyone’s guess.
Their is no reason to not sign an NDA. An NDA is an agreement between multiple parties not to tell others outside the agreement what is going on. If at any point in the conversation you get the feeling they are talking about something you are already working on you just stop the conversation. If you want take a meeting with an NDA in place before you know the idea or before you have been “garenteed” the job you will never to any real bussiness. And if you think you have, I promis you you haven’t.
NDAs are not the same as patents!!!
I have a problem a little deferent from what I am reading here. We had an idea for an app for our company and found a development company who we decided on to design our app with our idea. They clamed to be able to design it for iPhone, Android and Blackberry and we all signed a contract along with a NDA. They clamed to be able to design the Iphone in less that 90 days and 15-20 days for Android and blackberry. It’s been two years now and we got the Iphone in around the 90 day and then the android around 90 days after that. Still have never seen the blackberry but with all the issue with the two we got we are not concerned with the blackberry. We paid on signing of the contract the agreed amount and paid the balance in two installments per our contract with the exception of the Blackberry fee for design as we never got it. Ok now to the problem……We have had problem with the Iphone and it locating users along with some other issues which they have addressed very slowly, the big issue is android…they just can not seem to get all the bugs out of it and we have a lot of issues with the backend as well. They do not return my calls or txts and emails for weeks at a time and we are tired of it. They were to put the code on our server which they gave me the required needs of a server for it to operate on and they did place a copy on our server which was not complete and does not operate. The code that does work at the best it has since development but still not operating correctly is on their server. So after all this I guess my question is….Can you tell me any legal recourse we might have? Can I demand the code we paid for so we can find a developer that can finish what they started and just can’t seem to get it to work as we were told it would? This app is from what I am told one of a kind with many admin users to the backend and several layers to the app. The name on the app is our Reg. Trademark name and all artwork on the app i.e. logo and txt design belong to us. The code on the other hand from what I am reading here in your blog belongs to them but the idea belongs to us and we have all notes emails and do have the NDA copy with the contract. What are our rights as a customer and one who have a lot of money invested into something we have no control over.
Brian – this is not a legal site and we can’t offer legal advice. You should definitely consult a lawyer to see what remedies you might have. Wish we could do more than point you to a lawyer, but your problem is way outside our wheelhouse.
Good luck.
Mark