If your idea is possible to describe with technical details, has some innovative advantages, know-how, any other peculiarities that makes it special then either:
(1) patent it with USPTO which could take time and require some financial resources,
or at least
(2) write-up very detailed description, print it and send it to your own address and never open the envelope - doing so you will protect the idea with the priority date on the envelope just in case of possible legal dispute in the future.
It is the least expensive method to protect any TECHNICALLY DESCRIBED IDEA IN A WRITTEN FORM as long as you don’t open the envelope. Only when a legal dispute happens the court will open the envelope and thus determine the idea really belongs to the claimant, owner of the envelope.
If your idea is possible to describe with technical details, has some innovative advantages, know-how, any other peculiarities that makes it special then either:
(1) patent it with USPTO which could take time and require some financial resources,
or at least
(2) write-up very detailed description, print it and send it to your own address and never open the envelope - doing so you will protect the idea with the priority date on the envelope just in case of possible legal dispute in the future.
What protects option 2?
It is the least expensive method to protect any TECHNICALLY DESCRIBED IDEA IN A WRITTEN FORM as long as you don’t open the envelope. Only when a legal dispute happens the court will open the envelope and thus determine the idea really belongs to the claimant, owner of the envelope.