Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I contacted American Greetings Corporation which invited me to share my invention with them but they will not sign a NDA.  In fact, they want me to sign their "Disclosure Agreement" which states that they will not accept my subission in confidence.  They will not agree to keep it secret or confidential.  I checked out the company on BBB and they have good standing.  Is it safe to submit my idea to such a well known company like American Greetings without a Non-Disclosure Agreement. 
     The main thing that concerns me is a statement in their agreement that says, "Nevertheless, we are sometimes willing to discuss with people not in the employ of our company any ideas, writings, or designs which might lead us to even greater creativity."  It almost sounds like they would use my idea to further their own ideas rather than consider a licensing agreement.

 

Edit:  I filed a provisional patent on my invention

I`ve heard about companies which would not sign NDAs before. The reason is usually that they want to protect themselves. If they sign a NDA and you present your idea to them, and they are working on something similar at the same time, that could lead to a conflict. So usually it’s not because they want to take advantage of your ideas without paying you – it’s more a question of protecting what they are working on themselves.

 

I hope this makes sense to you - it could explain their attitude.

The best assumption is that the provisional application is worthless, unless you are a patent attorney.