I have an idea for an app I'm going to work on Getting developed. I'm formulating the business plan and other specifics. Here's the catch. In order to get funding and actually get the thing made I'm going to have to tell people about it. I'm concerned that if I don't protect myself legally someone might steal my idea.
So how do I protect my intellectual property before its really created, preferably without costing a small fortune? This is a new venture for me and any advice of input would be appreciated. FYI: I'm US based.
Generally, you can't copyright ideas. It's the details of the execution that are protected.
Generally, you can't copyright ideas. It's the details of the execution that are protected.
So lets say I have a firm plan of how I want to execute. "I'm creating this game and this is how it will look/function."
How do I protect that?
Generally, you can't copyright ideas. It's the details of the execution that are protected.So lets say I have a firm plan of how I want to execute. "I'm creating this game and this is how it will look/function."
How do I protect that?
Mostly, just keep good records. In the U.S., any creative work is automatically protected by copyright when it's created. You just need to be able to prove what you already had created, and when.
Short answer, before you tell anyone your idea, get them to sign one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement
Long answer, no matter what people sign, they can do whatever they want until you actually win a court judgement against them. I work for an inventor, and he says that you basically want to get a big fish behind you, so that folks are scared of real consequences if they rip off your idea. I think it is sort of a catch-22 unless you just happen to personally know people who have teams of lawyers representing their interests.
My guess is that you basically have to cover your ass as best you can, expose yourself to some risk, and hope that if the idea does get stolen, you can at least win compensation in court a few years down the road.
I plan to hire someone to actually program tha app since that's not a skill set that I have. I plan to have them sign a couple of things. I'm less concerned with that.
However, I was going to do a kick starter to raise the relatively small amount of funding I'll need. Early estimates are in the 15-20k range, but with research I'll narrow that down some. The catch is that in the kick starter I'll have to share at least enough of the idea to get people to give money. That's my biggest concern.
Although I suppose if its on something like kick starter it's at least a matter of public record. I may just have to reach out to my friend network and ask if anyone is or knows a lawyer who can help me avoid pitfalls.
Write it down and mail it to yourself then don't open it unless you have to prove the idea predated the postmark on the envelope.
Ideas cannot be copyrighted though, although you could look into trademark and trade secret law if you are really paranoid. It is not like there is a shortage of intellectual property law out there. You are going to need a lawyer who specializes in it before you wade into that partcular pit of vipers though.
Though the exact legislation varies from country to country, in general they all abide by some basic rules:
1.- You can copyright a process, but not a concept. For example, "Making Icecram" cannot be copyrighted, but "Method For Making Icecream Using X by Y With Z" can.
2.- If you don't want to get into the copyright process yet, your best course of action is to accumulate as much verifiable evidence that you are the original author. While this does not protect you in the same manner an actual copyright does, upon the eventual case of someone else applying for copyright, it does give you the tools to lean the case in your favour.
I was involved in a pretty lenghty legal dispute regarding some of my company's olive-oil brands in Brasil, where one of our clients tried to register them before we could apply for it ourselves (Brasilian laws regarding patents and registrations is rather slow, to say the least). And the main tool that helped us win the case was showing the entire development process of the brands, back to the very early drafts and drawings. Our brand lawyer -whose last name is Stocker, so she covers both our legal and vampire-hunting issues- managed to get the company to back down even before the whole Phoenix Wright thing started, as they recognized the case was in our favour.
So while not exactly the same situation, the principle stands: The best way to protect intellectual property is to have a failsafe way of demonstrating it is yours.
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I have an idea for an app I'm going to work on Getting developed. I'm formulating the business plan and other specifics. Here's the catch. In order to get funding and actually get the thing made I'm going to have to tell people about it. I'm concerned that if I don't protect myself legally someone might steal my idea.
So how do I protect my intellectual property before its really created, preferably without costing a small fortune? This is a new venture for me and any advice of input would be appreciated. FYI: I'm US based.
Realistically you don't, if you don't have cash to spend on legal fees. A lot of people will also refuse to sign an NDA in advance as they may have already been exposed to your idea from another venture they are already involved with. Most good ideas have been had by many people.
Everyone who has posted about keeping detailed notes and postmarked packages is right, but the idea isn't the key part of what you are doing. What will make you succeed or fail is actually getting the idea into production (most ventures fail at this stage) and then marketing your 'brand'. You want to ensure that even if people do come up with what you consider knock-offs (and they may be legally entitled to do so) that you are the most prominent person in your field. You are after the majority of sales, not all of them - that's impossible anyhow. You need to keep running against the incoming tide of people trying to copy what you have done and be better - new features, better customer service, most familiar brand name, etc.
Good luck!
Chief Technical Officer
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Generally, you can't copyright ideas. It's the details of the execution that are protected.So lets say I have a firm plan of how I want to execute. "I'm creating this game and this is how it will look/function."
How do I protect that?
So while you can't protect an idea, you may be able to patent a unique and novel process. (Obviously, I have no idea if what you have fall into that category or not...)
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I'm no lawyer, but I imagine the internet might be a great way to validate a thing as your own:
if you post in this thread that you are writing a story about a couple who have car trouble outside a small town while on vacation; and that the man is awaiting news of a promotion at his workplace back in NYC; and that he's extremely superstitious; and that he sits down in a diner whereupon he sees and uses a 1 cent mystic seer napkin holder; and all the rest that Matheson so superbly wrote--and a year from now I publish "Nick of Time" (in a parallel universe where Matheson didn't and you came up with the original story), I'd imagine you have an excellent case for court and that I'd be in a lot of hot water.