Patents
Of course, you can give your concepts away to anyone you like--just don't force others to.
Patented ideas are not just "ideas," but specific and detailed ways of accomplishing something that would not be obvious to someone skilled in the art. In practice, it's not that easy to run afoul of someone else's patent, at least in my field. It may be different with other fields, like chip design. I don't know who is giving you grief about patents, or whether it's related to rocket work or software work. Typically, such people tend to chase after deeper pockets.