
My suggestion is that you make an effort to find out exactly what the rules of the "ideas" program are. Normally, when an employee submits an idea to his employer that is related to the employer's business, the idea belongs to the employer without any obligation of compensation. My guess is that your employer's "ideas" program actually has rules, and that those rules leave the issue of compensation, if any, to your employer's sole discretion -- at least that's what they usually say.