Petra,

"I am very certain the individuals you may speak to about any given matter would be someone you would trust and feel quite certain your discussions would go no further, or only be shared with your permission with others who are of equal standing. However, if you thought you had the discovery of a lifetime, I doubt you would share it with but a very few close associates."

Au contraire, people regularly steal my ideas, sometimes I get annoyed, but that is a risk of the business. The bottom line is that no one owns ideas, and you only get credit when you've convinced some other experts by writing it down.

John