I had a very nice idea i spoke to my best friend about it, my friend advised me to go to a very good IT firm that can help me out with it. Not long i got a reputable IT firm here in lagos i told them abt what have got and thier response was positive. I knew they love the idea because the M.D. of the firm kept praising me and never hide his feelings when he said he couldn't believe a young guy like me could come up with such an idea. Unfortunatly they chased me away with the amount they charge me for the project. However few weeks later i discovered that this firm has stolen my idea and have written a program that works exactly like what i presented to them some weeks earlier. and they have even started marketing the program to some big eateries and supermarket here in lagos i got to know this when i saw one of the staff of the firm. Pls advice me on what to do and secondly i want to be connected with a very good web programmer that we can work together.

Just let it go things happen for a reason.

all you have to do now is go back and remix the idea

add more features like a "version 2.0" of it and make sure it beats the present one

and look for a reputable IT firm or you could do it yourself if you can

den market it and lets see what happens

@Poster, write your own program and offer it up for free to the same marketers and such.

@kobojunkie, I rilly don't understand...

work with me. I am a PHP, Mysql, HTML, XHTML, CSS, Jquery, Ajax, CMS expert. I can be reached by email: uchechuka@gmail.com or call: 08037593242. My name is Chuka.

uchechuka: work with me. I am a PHP, Mysql, HTML, XHTML, CSS, Jquery, Ajax, CMS expert. I can be reached by email: uchechuka@gmail.com or call: 08037593242. My name is Chuka.

Thanks Uchechuka, pls check ur email

x-pat:


Thanks Uchechuka, pls check ur email

X-pat check your mail.

x-pat:
@kobojunkie, I rilly don't understand...

Netscape created a browser which they sell for around 5 euros and it was really selling. Microsoft created a bell ringer,and worst of all gave it out for free. Till date, IE is the most used browser.

Do it and give it out for free,when u get popular, tell the world how the firm stole it.

But seriously, make sure u create urs, original idea sources tend to be more productive

You can still benefit from the idea by claiming credit for it. You can ask them to credit you as the originator of the idea for a little amount of money (don't be greedy) in exchange for an agreement promising not to sue them. Even if they refuse this, you can still use your story to convince IT developers that your other ideas are worth it, but you need to bring some skills to the table too. Marketing, etc. Nobody will invest in you if all you have is an idea. What's the company's name and the name of the product?

Negotiate a percentage with them

Mark Zuckerberg did the same to some brothers at Harvard. They sued him and got close to $80m. Don't let them cheat you just like that.

My friend, if you are serious, sue them. If you dont know where to start, send me an e-mail temibello@yahoo.co.uk

What waas the idea? (Its stolen already so maybe there'd be no harm letting us know) ;-)

Too bad. The truth is if you didn't sign any form of written agreement with them giving you exclusive right to the patent for your idea or program then I am afraid that you have just worked in vain.

Let me ask you some questions because there is some ambiguity in your post. You have said that you fell out or rather the deal went south because of the amount offered for the project. Did you intend to sell the idea to them as a bundle or what?

I don't think that starting a litigation will make much impact if there is no contractual agreement in place signed by both parties. All the best!

uchechuka: work with me. I am a PHP, Mysql, HTML, XHTML, CSS, Jquery, Ajax, CMS expert. I can be reached by email: uchechuka@gmail.com or call: 08037593242. My name is Chuka.

Bro am in to work with you i own a PHP site here @
www.proforumng.tk

x-pat:


Thanks Uchechuka, pls check ur email

x pat,when next u get an idea register it with d nigeria copyrights commission bfore givn out ur idea dat way if they steal it u can sue and make a fortune off dem.

let this be a lesson for all future idea originators when making presentations to VCs or Other Corporate entities. To protect yourself legally, make sure the idea is written in a proposal, or formal presentation, make sure a confidentiality agreement is included in the writeup that makes it binding for anyone in that corporate setting not to disclose or make use of your idea without your consent, for current and future employees of the firm. Even if you are going to discuss the idea verbally, make sure you submit the bulletproofed idea proposal and you receive a signed and stamped acknowledgement letter(which you will have prepared 2 copies of, one for your records, one for the firm}. the embedded confidentiality agreement does not need to be signed, it is what the reader will see first in the presentation, if he reads after the agreement, that means he consented. note that so as not to spoof off the VCs or Firm, do not state in the acknowledgment letter that the proposal contains a confidentiality agreement, if you must do so, let it be in legalese or small print. This is because most corporate entities have an inclination to rip off idea people, and they might not want to listen to your presentation if they see that you cant be cheated,and you dont want that. diamond bank will tell you they dont need your idea, while working on it, gtbank will tell you they are working on the same idea.protect yourself.

The first thing when u have such idea is to get patent right that is when u can sue. I was ince q victim

BloggerTee:

Bro am in to work with you i own a PHP site here @
www.proforumng.tk

Idea is nothing. You cannot even copyright an idea. It is all in your head. At this stage if you eve try to implement it you may be sued

i knw ideas can be stolen but talents. Dont go waste ur time trying to sue somebody who may claim to have had the same idea as you did, afterall calculus was invented by 3 persons at the same time from different countries. Rather, use ur talent to go further on the idea, remember the best is yet to come.

You don't want to go into the business of suing. You're not in America. I recommend a more productive outlook.

Write a hack for the program, see if it works and bring a staff of the coy up on how to use. If its a payment program, then you'll be a millionaire soon.

Seun: You can still benefit from the idea by claiming credit for it. You can ask them to credit you as the originator of the idea for a little amount of money (don't be greedy) in exchange for an agreement promising not to sue them. Even if they refuse this, you can still use your story to convince IT developers that your other ideas are worth it, but you need to bring some skills to the table too. Marketing, etc. Nobody will invest in you if all you have is an idea. What's the company's name and the name of the product?

Best advise yet.

I personnally would sue them because I am blatantly belligerent when people try to cheat me. I am extremely belligerent in such cases.

If I don't have the funds for the suit, I would hire a lawyer and tell him to take 50% or even 80% of whatever is obtained from the suit. I would rather give my money away than be cheated out of it.

Sorry everything turned out this way bro, what you got to do frankly is to first meet them and explain to them that you feel cheated out of the whole game since they went ahead to develop your idea, tell them that you dont have in mind sueing them since there are little or no evidence that such a discusion was held, tell them you are here to take whatever percentage they would give you bearing in mind that this can happen to anyone. Remain calm and dont shout at them, even if they refuse, calmly leave and maintain a gud relationship with them.Dont dare to sue them, not because your weak, but because u'l lose, i will bet you that, 1 is that there were no documented agreements, 2 is that this is naija, they can bribe their way through the naija legal system and they would even black mail you and call you idiot.

Then come back and re-access yourself and and start building your project team, u may not b a gud programmer, but when you walk with a team, they can help you build on your concepts.
Ma regards to you, if you think you can do sth (ideas or skills) and want to belong on ma team, pls mail me doggedbb@yahoo.com or call me up on 08154647768. Were into web ,software and mobile programming.

Kobojunkie: @Poster, write your own program and offer it up for free to the same marketers and such.

This is another thin I can do as well.

In conjunction with my lawsuit.

If the lawsuit does not destroy you, the free software would.

I will destroy you on all levels. Try and cheat me and you would see intellectual war!

Well dont just sit der, d idea is ur intellectual property so u r afforded protection under d law. Der is a reason y d law prevents ple from unlawfully amassing d fruit of a persons labour. Besides dat IT firm has breached d duty of confidentiality imposed on dem. Dey r not supposed to use d info u gave dem in confidence as a springboard 4 an act detrimental to u.... So dude, go to a good law firm, sue d firm. At d very least, u ll be awarded damages. Its ur idea afterall.

dont meet d firm on ur own, dey ll dupe u. Go wit an intellectual property lawyer dat knows his onions pls

deenee: Too bad. The truth is if you didn't sign any form of written agreement with them giving you exclusive right to the patent for your idea or program then I am afraid that you have just worked in vain.

Let me ask you some questions because there is some ambiguity in your post. You have said that you fell out or rather the deal went south because of the amount offered for the project. Did you intend to sell the idea to them as a bundle or what?

I don't think that starting a litigation will make much impact if there is no contractual agreement in place signed by both parties. All the best!

Contract in place or not, courts would look at acting in good faith.

If they had no such idea in place (which they showed have informed him of if they did) before he showed them his and such ideas are not already in existence locally or abroad (e.g. traditional hotel management systems), then they acted in bad faith and are liable to litigation.

Courts expect commercial interactions to be fundamentally based and done on good faith, not exploitation or cheating even if you have the chance without legal paperwork preventing it.

9japrof: Sorry everything turned out this way bro, what you got to do frankly is to first meet them and explain to them that you feel cheated out of the whole game since they went ahead to develop your idea, tell them that you dont have in mind sueing them since there are little or no evidence that such a discusion was held, tell them you are here to take whatever percentage they would give you bearing in mind that this can happen to anyone. Remain calm and dont shout at them, even if they refuse, calmly leave and maintain a gud relationship with them.Dont dare to sue them, not because your weak, but because u'l lose, i will bet you that, 1 is that there were no documented agreements, 2 is that this is naija, they can bribe their way through the naija legal system and they would even black mail you and call you idiot.

Then come back and re-access yourself and and start building your project team, u may not b a gud programmer, but when you walk with a team, they can help you build on your concepts.
Ma regards to you, if you think you can do sth (ideas or skills) and want to belong on ma team, pls mail me doggedbb@yahoo.com or call me up on 08154647768. Were into web ,software and mobile programming.

I would happily sue them so they have to bribe. I will get some satisfaction from the stress they go through and the money they part with instead of leaving them to God. I am not a christian or muslim.

I would also let them know they cannot go international with the product as I would sue them there too.

Let them be in the press from the court case for stealing ideas:

a) Other developers would avoid them in the future and go to competitors with ideas.

b) When clients google them, they would see it.

I will do whatever I can with little money to FCK them up even if it is just a little bit. They would regret a fight with me.

x-pat:
I had a very nice idea i spoke to my best friend about it, my friend advised me to go to a very good IT firm that can help me out with it. Not long i got a reputable IT firm here in lagos i told them abt what have got and thier response was positive. I knew they love the idea because the M.D. of the firm kept praising me and never hide his feelings when he said he couldn't believe a young guy like me could come up with such an idea. Unfortunatly they chased me away with the amount they charge me for the project. However few weeks later i discovered that this firm has stolen my idea and have written a program that works exactly like what i presented to them some weeks earlier. and they have even started marketing the program to some big eateries and supermarket here in lagos i got to know this when i saw one of the staff of the firm. Pls advice me on what to do and secondly i want to be connected with a very good web programmer that we can work together.

You have two options here sue them or leave them. I'm not aware of what the Nigeria copyright laws are but I think what I'm about to say is quite general in most cases. If you can proove with facts that the idea was directly stolen from you then you can sue them to court and get them to pay their arses off but bear in mind that this won't be cheap. "In such situations you're always adviced to sign some sort of agreement before disclosing your ideas just in case things turn out this way". Personally I don't think you should sit down and do nothing about it cos this little idea could turn out to be a billion dollar idea tomorrow and then you'll bite your fingers and cry. I know there are some people who think that you should just let it be but as a computer scientist I know how difficult it is to come up good ideas (it takes ages cos most things have already been done). Good Luck!

"I'm a muslim and not a terrorist"

gulfer: Write a hack for the program, see if it works and bring a staff of the coy up on how to use. If its a payment program, then you'll be a millionaire soon.

There is no law in Nigeria. I consider this the best idea if you can.