HOW DO I PROTECT MY IDEA?
an idea is first the thought of one or more persons. We sometimes call a “new” thought an idea, but not all ideas are new. Many ideas have been around for a long, long time, even though the idea may be new to the person who has just thought of it. Some ideas are good, and some ideas are bad. Some ideas can be commercially exploited, and other ideas, no matter how good they are, cannot be commercially exploited. Some ideas can be protected by trade secrets laws, patents, copyrights or trademarks, and others cannot. In some cases, even though an idea is protectable it may have little or no commercial value.
WHAT KIND OF IDEA DO YOU HAVE?
Let’s think about your idea for a moment. First, let’s think about what you as an individual can do with your idea. If you still have it in your head or in your private papers, it’s still yours and yours alone. An idea can always be kept secret if you don’t try to exploit it. You can do nothing with your idea. Or, you can explore your idea, thinking about it from every angle; and you can improve it by adding ideas of others or building upon it yourself. You can use your idea in your daily life, or you can help others use it. However, if you only use your idea yourself or give the idea away to others without charge, chances are you will never profit from the idea to any great extent.
This booklet deals with ideas from which you want to profit. Generally speaking, in order to profit from an idea, it is necessary to receive some sort of legal protection for the idea. Different types of ideas can be protected in different ways, and some types of ideas cannot be protected at all.
Some ideas are useful in the sense that they may be incorporated into devices, structures, machinery, or other things. For example, if an idea is for a method or process of doing something, a machine, an article of manufacture, or a composition of matter, and if your idea is truly “new,” you may be able to protect it by obtaining a utility patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Among the newer candidates for such protection are the “genetic engineering”, “computer software program” and “method of doing business” fields.
Other ideas are artistic, or aesthetic. If you have invented a new and original ornamental design, it may be protectable by a design patent, also issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or by a copyright, which may be registered with the United States Copyright Office.
Other “ideas” may be new species of plants. If you have discovered or produced a new variety of plant, it may be protected by a plant patent, utility patent or both from the United States Patent and Trademark Office or by a certificate of plant variety protection from the Department of Agriculture.
However, ideas don’t have to be patentable or copyrighted to be protectable. For instance, except that practical applications thereof may be patentable, naturally occurring phenomena, laws of nature, mental steps, most printed matter, and mathematical formulas are not protectable under our patent laws. However, if an idea in one of those categories would be helpful or useful to others if known by them, you might be able to receive compensation for your idea by disclosing it to them in confidence
Another type of potentially exploitable idea is a slogan or fanciful name or mark suitable for use on or in connection with the sale of goods or services. Such a name or slogan can constitute a trademark or service mark. However, rights in a trademark or service mark are established by using the mark in selling goods or services under the mark, not simply by thinking up or “inventing” the mark. Thus, in order to obtain protection for your proposed mark, you will either have to begin using it yourself or sell the idea to someone else who will begin using the mark. In the latter case, the idea must be sold in confidence, and your rights will be purely contractual. under a contract or the express understanding that, if they use the idea or disclose it to others, you will be compensated. Here you are treating your idea as confidential information or a trade secret.
Although ideas as such are not protected by copyright law, the particular expression
We haven’t covered every useful idea in the foregoing, but you may now be able to classify correctly many of your useful ideas and, in some cases, you may now be able to see some ways they may be protected. of an idea in a work of authorship, such as poetry, an article, a book, a painting, a musical composition, lyrics, a map, a photograph, a sculpture or even a pictorial design, can be protected under the federal copyright laws. Copyright protection is also available for computer software programs. While a copyright exists from the instant you embody such an idea in tangible form, in order to sue for copyright infringement, the copyrighted work must be registered. Registration can be obtained from the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.
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Other “ideas” may be new species of plants. If you have discovered or produced a new variety of plant, it may be protected by a plant patent, utility patent or both from the United States Patent and Trademark Office or by a certificate of plant variety protection from the Department of Agriculture.
However, ideas don’t have to be patentable or copyrighted to be protectable. For instance, except that practical applications thereof may be patentable, naturally occurring phenomena, laws of nature, mental steps, most printed matter, and mathematical formulas are not protectable under our patent laws. However, if an idea in one of those categories would be helpful or useful to others if known by them, you might be able to receive compensation for your idea by disclosing it to them in confidence
Another type of potentially exploitable idea is a slogan or fanciful name or mark suitable for use on or in connection with the sale of goods or services. Such a name or slogan can constitute a trademark or service mark. However, rights in a trademark or service mark are established by using the mark in selling goods or services under the mark, not simply by thinking up or “inventing” the mark. Thus, in order to obtain protection for your proposed mark, you will either have to begin using it yourself or sell the idea to someone else who will begin using the mark. In the latter case, the idea must be sold in confidence, and your rights will be purely contractual. under a contract or the express understanding that, if they use the idea or disclose it to others, you will be compensated. Here you are treating your idea as confidential information or a trade secret.
Although ideas as such are not protected by copyright law, the particular expression
We haven’t covered every useful idea in the foregoing, but you may now be able to classify correctly many of your useful ideas and, in some cases, you may now be able to see some ways they may be protected. of an idea in a work of authorship, such as poetry, an article, a book, a painting, a musical composition, lyrics, a map, a photograph, a sculpture or even a pictorial design, can be protected under the federal copyright laws. Copyright protection is also available for computer software programs. While a copyright exists from the instant you embody such an idea in tangible form, in order to sue for copyright infringement, the copyrighted work must be registered. Registration can be obtained from the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.
Helpful Addresses:
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