Protecting a Marketing idea

Here is the deal. I have had a marketing/branding idea that is damn near perfect for the athletic apparel and equipment industry. I thought of it about 7 years ago and know that the brand concept is one that would equate into billions of dollars in the athletic apparel and equipment market.

The concept is unique. The brand name is an acronym of a certain mindset that all competitive athletes share. The acronym of this mindset phrase I created results in a slam dunk brand name.

While I would love to be a multi billionaire in ten years, I have very little start up capital of my own to start an apparel and equipment company. Even if I did, I know absolutely zero about the ins and outs of the industry. What I have is a brilliant marketing concept equal to or better than "Just Do It" that Nike enjoyed so much success with.

I am leaning more towards pitching and offering to sell the brand concept to the 3-5 major industry players including Under Armor, Adidas, Nike and Reebok. Just sell it for $15+ million and walk. Ideally, I would have the acronym be the name of my own company and rake in billions like the Nike founder did but I just don't have the wherewithal to do that .I have basically determined that I need to copywrite the entire concept and the acronym as well as my development process over the years in order to protect myself from having one of these large corporations just steal my work after they hear the presentation.

Again, if I started my own company, the acronym(which describes the mindset celebrated by the concept) would be the actual name of my company. When sold to one of the big guys it would be a marketing concept/phrase in advertisements and on labels.

Knowing that I am not interested(as of now anyway) in starting my own company up with this name and concept as the eternal marketing gold mine it would be.....how would you go about insuring that your concept was protected if you were in my shoes? I am talking about being protected from the corporations that I choose to present the concept . I want to make sure that all the companies know that I am pitching the concept to their competitors in order to maximize my profit.

I guess the question is can I even protect this acronym with the competitive mindset that it celebrates. The words that the acronym letters represent, clearly describe the mindset celebrated in the entire marketin concept. The slogan (acronym) is uniquely original to me and I am very certain of this. I just need to make sure I am protected.