I understand that no one here is a lawyer, but if anyone here has any background knowledge in this subject, i’d like all the information i can get.
I have this concept for a business app. I think it is fun and well worth my time and investment. However, my worry is that while im developing this idea, someone else comes out and takes it right under me. How do i protect my idea? I already have a name, should i simply at the very least register the application and the brand name in whichever city i desire to conduct business in?
I can only speak from my point of view. But I honestly don’t think “protecting” your idea matters much. Unless you have evidence proof that someone takes your idea maybe from how you write the code or where the person takes the code from, there’s really no way of “protecting” your code or idea. And what makes you think you’re the only person who thought of the idea you are thinking now? We’re like 20+ years into the IT industry that practically, everyone has the same idea.
A good and clear example can be Facebook. Mark was hired by the Winklevoss brothers and they had the idea to connect people together online. And the Winklevoss brothers “thought” they were the only 2 who had the idea of connecting people online. That’s entirely wrong. MySpace was well before their time and MySpace had the idea of connecting people together as well. Many many many sites are like that and were way before MySpace as well. So Mark didn’t technically steal the idea of “connecting” people online. He had his own agenda and took the opportunity to build Facebook off of something that was already there. Social networks don’t start from “good” ideas or “good” codes. They come from hypes and trends.
So what makes you think that your idea is the only idea that is like that? Everyone has similar ideas with different twists. Nothing is the exactly the same, but have a general similarity. The only thing I would suggest is patent the final product and hope that no one steals the actual product.
Here where I live (scandinavia) you can’t patent or protect ideas anyhow. I assume its the same pretty much anywhere else. You can copyright intellectual property. You can patent a product. But that’s it. And even then chinese or someone else will copy it and don’t give a sh**
Only way to “protect” idea is not to tell anyone about it. And then again someone else might have the same or similar idea anyway.
Thanks for your input. I greatly appreciate the help. I feel that i should just start building the project. Like you said, an idea is simply just an idea until it gets executed.
You’re right. Just go ahead and start building the project. The longer you put it off, the more chance there is of someone else thinking of the same thing and actually managing to complete and launch their project first.
Remember too that because there really is nothing new out there, the key is to have something about yours that is unique. And even after you have launched it, keep an eye on the ‘competition’ so that you can stay one step ahead of them with special features that make your product stand out.
There is no way to protect an idea, only a patent and even those get stolen, the only way is to build the app and in case someone else is building the same thing you need to be the one that gets there first.
As others were saying. it seems that a patent would be the route to go. While they can take quite some time to get approved/granted, if someone does come behind you with the same idea during the period your patent was pending you could always pursue that legally with documented evidence that you started the process of getting the idea patented before they did. But as someone else suggested, it would be best to get started as soon as possible and discuss it as little as possible with others. The longer you wait, the more chance you are giving someone else to get to it before you do.
@JAVazquez95 If you’re just like me with fears about your ideas been stolen, then I’d suggest you this: try http://Davison.com where you cannot only protect but also get your ideas presented to corporations (esp. related to your ideas) and rewarded… still have issues with your idea protection, don’t wait to ask. However, remember there’s an initial cost involved. Hope it helps.
Regards!
When I was a younger man I had a great idea for an invention. I took the idea to a man who ran with it and cut me out. I was so angry. To the point. I talked to a retired lawyer. He told me to simply write my idea out or type it and mail a certified letter to myself. Do not open it. That is the key. If you ever run across someone who has taken your idea, you have certified proof it was yours first. I hope this helps.
