protect my idea/feature?

mason · 04-28-06, 04:14 PM

How do I legally protect my idea? I'm going to develop a site with a feature I'm sure no one has used or created before(is there a way to check?). I don't want people copying this idea.. what can I do? Just copyright it?

An example would be that milliondollarhomepage.com. Great idea, but everyone copied it. Mine doesn't involve the whole site. Just a small portion of it.

I want to protect this idea/feature in its entirety. I don't want people to simply copy it and slap a different name on it and call it okay.

Super Mod · 04-28-06, 04:34 PM

What you're going to need to do is apply for a patent with the United States Patent and Treasury Office. It's a really difficult process and can take a lot of money to do so, but it may be worth it if what you're doing is very original. Also, this patent will only protect you against other U.S. business owners and will not protect you in any foreign country. You will need to apply for patents in those countries as well.

**Baby Boy** · 04-28-06, 08:31 PM

Sounds Costly!

**Baby Boy** · 04-28-06, 08:42 PM

By the way, collected you some places to check:

United States Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov
UK Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.patent.gov.uk
China Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.cedarpatent.com
** Cedar Patent Offers Filing for China ($3,000) AND United States ($4,000)

That should give you a start, best of luck

mxer210 · 04-28-06, 09:05 PM

Legal protection won't do much and there isn't really anyway to protect your site idea/concept. I would just develop it and release it. Even with a patent and trademark and everything, people could still copy the milliondollarhomepage because A) do you think he would have sued everyone who copied? And B, I think you have to change the idea by 20% and its legal to copy. Just my 2 cents...

SophMedia · 04-28-06, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mason

How do I legally protect my idea? I'm going to develop a site with a feature I'm sure no one has used or created before(is there a way to check?). I don't want people copying this idea.. what can I do? Just copyright it?

An example would be that milliondollarhomepage.com. Great idea, but everyone copied it. Mine doesn't involve the whole site. Just a small portion of it.

I want to protect this idea/feature in its entirety. I don't want people to simply copy it and slap a different name on it and call it okay.

Hate to be abrupt, but as they say, "dream on."

Don't even worry about trying to patent/copyright it (although I would "copyright" the whole site), someone, somewhere, will steal your idea eventually if they want it, it is just a matter of time.

Remember too though, half the battle of protecting a copyright, is having the funds to afford it..

mason · 04-28-06, 11:55 PM

ouch! too bad then. thanks for all the replies.

mxer210 · 04-29-06, 03:45 AM

Yeah there's a misconception that everything can be protected. I thought the same thing too, but if it were that way it would prevent a lot of competiton which would hurt the economy and the consumer.

Super Mod · 05-02-06, 01:28 AM

The best thing to do is just to be first to market. If you're first to market and constantly updating then your competitors will not be able to catch up to you. Just make sure that you have enough money to get your idea off the ground before anyone else does and you should be fine.

Amy · 06-08-06, 11:29 AM

Copyrighting is very expense 9and time consuming). Even copyright lawyers make sure to pint that out to you (at least the one I know does). IT is best to just document, document, document. It won't always save your idea for mbeing stolen, but does give a bit of ownership with a timeline attached to it. Best to just do like above says and forge ahead full steam, try to be the first and the best and stay innovative and open to change with it when it hits the public and some "real use".