Re: Not an Intel fan...
1, patents (or at least provisional filings) can be a very good way of proving priority before a meeting - compared to having to argue a bunch of unsigned lab notebooks in court
2, NDAs offer no protection if you are up against a MEGACORP with more lawyers. Neither are patents but they are a little better.
3, Global MEGACORP won't sign an NDA. Simply there is no way that Mr X at an IBM/Samsung/Google can know if there isn't a Mr Y in another office working internally on the same thing you are going to talk about. So signing an NDA before a meeting puts them into a world of conflict.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
