<prompt> Human: Hello fellow redditers , few years ago I came up with awesome idea but I knew I cant realize it because its some kind of addition to cigarettes , so obviously I cannot start my own cigarette company. I found a place where I can tell my idea to parliament and theres a chance they can buy it fromMe , but whats the guarantee they wont screw me and take the idea without telling me ? How hard it is to get patent on my idea ? Maybe some one has experience in this and can share his experience. Excuse my English, its my third language. Assistant: What country do you live in?Human: Latvia Assistant: Your country is a memberstate of the European Patent Office where you can then register a patent. If you want more information, look here: . They also let you search for current, existing patents: Human: So it would be smarter to patent it first and then offer it to them right? Even though they offer to buy my idea after I tell them.  <response>: If you have an invention you must keep it secret until the patent is filed. You only talk to your patent attorney. If there is any evidence, that the information was public before it was filed the patent can be challenged. This will lead to a lot of court costs with no gain.Other things to remember:The company will not necessarily licence your patent. They might just violate it. Do you have the means to go to court? There are a few cases of people who had patents that big companies were violating - or thought they were. The court trials took years and cost millions. One example comes to mind is Andreas Pavel vs. Sony in a patent for the walkman. The trial was settled after 20 years.They might challenge your patent and go to court. They might not be interested.There might be prior art. Did you do your research? 