Submission of Idea Agreement


Summary

This template is a submission of idea agreement that may be used to submit technical or creative suggestions, proposals, or ideas to a company. Such agreements are common in the movie, television, and book industries. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, and alternate clauses. Ideas are not protectable under patent, trademark, or copyright laws. However, in some instances, where a party believes it has a novel idea and needs financing, the parties will enter into an idea submission or “pitch” agreement. Such agreements may (but usually do not) contain confidentiality protections for the idea and/or provisions providing for payment to the disclosing party if the receiving party makes improper use of the idea. For a collection of content related to motion picture production, see Motion Picture Production Resource Kit. For guidance on idea submission issues, see Idea Submission Considerations and Milgrim on Trade Secrets § 9.05. For a sample unsolicited idea policy that a company may post online, see Unsolicited Idea Policy.