So me and a coworker came up with a great application that I want to write. It has huge commercial appeal maybe not so much personal appeal. It would probably take 50% of the effort in this one position and completely eliminate it...however one drawback.
I don't know really how to write it (Well I do just not line per line code). And I want to ask for suggestions/thoughts on it...however with the world being what it is, I can see someone else taking the idea...coding it and claiming it as theirs. So let me
ask all the great developers in here...
At what point in a products lifecycle do you determine "This is good enough I might want to protect it"? Also maybe another question of "How do I ask for help on a project without giving enough away to do what I want to do on my application...so no one can
steal it, but that I can get the help I need?". Maybe also how do you protect an "idea" if the actual product doesn't exist yet?
Something offensive to someone: I don't wanna hear any "Linux"..."release it open source" junk....while it is a nice idea...I've got bills and unless your gonna pay them...well I can't give stuff away for free now can I?
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Cybermagellan
Live for nothing, or die for everything
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You can't protect an idea, that is a fundermental concept of the American and British legal system.
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leighsword
LeighSword
Manip wrote:You can't protect an idea, that is a fundermental concept of the American and British legal system.
i wonder how our brains encrypt our ideas, whatever , my ideas is safe until i got enough abilities to implement it.
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Minh
WOOH! WOOH!
Of course you can protect an idea. To be precise, it has to be a novel idea for a method or mechanism that's not obvious to someone else in the industry.Manip wrote:You can't protect an idea, that is a fundermental concept of the American and British legal system.
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Minh wrote:Of course you can protect an idea.
No you can't... Otherwise we would have one producer of cars, one producer of computers, one producer of word processing software, one producer of paper... etc etc etc
You CAN protect a method or manufacturing process but that really isn't the same thing, a concept/idea might be achievable using alternate methods.. -
It becomes worth protecting when it is more than just a idea.
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Minh
WOOH! WOOH!
Manip wrote:
Minh wrote:Of course you can protect an idea.
No you can't...
You didn't really read what I wrote, did you?
Those things were all patentable (if you've got enough lawyers involved) -- except paper -- well maybe. But I wonder what would happen if the patent mentality existed back then.Manip wrote:
Otherwise we would have one producer of cars, one producer of computers, one producer of word processing software, one producer of paper... etc etc etc
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Minh wrote:
Those things were all patentable (if you've got enough lawyers involved) -- except paper -- well maybe. But I wonder what would happen if the patent mentality existed back then.Manip wrote:
Otherwise we would have one producer of cars, one producer of computers, one producer of word processing software, one producer of paper... etc etc etc
You think that it is possible to patent the concept of a car -- a motor vehicle? Name one that *has* been patented? -
leighsword
LeighSword
JChung2006 wrote:
It becomes worth protecting when it is more than just a idea.
i think the world is unfair, a ton of people cann't gains from their idea, for example, Xerox invented GUI(graphic user interace), but MS(windows) gains from it.
it really stop us to thinking, why we not try to steal others idea, and do a better job(product) on the idea than others did.
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The thing is, Leighsword, Xerox's idea wasn't worth anything until Apple sold their first Macintosh (or Lisa).
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Minh
WOOH! WOOH!
That's the thing. Once the first car wasn't patented, it's prior art & can't be patent. But I don't see why the very first car isn't patentable.Manip wrote:
You think that it is possible to patent the concept of a car -- a motor vehicle? Name one that *has* been patented?
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Minh wrote:
That's the thing. Once the first car wasn't patented, it's prior art & can't be patent. But I don't see why the very first car isn't patentable.Manip wrote:
You think that it is possible to patent the concept of a car -- a motor vehicle? Name one that *has* been patented?
I'm not going to argue with your ignorance, you'll just have to look it up yourself. -
W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
Minh wrote:But I don't see why the very first car isn't patentable.
Because the idea of a car isn't original.
A car is just a wheeled platform with some kind of motor.
You can, however, patent a particular design of car, especilally if its innovative.
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limalicas
Happily daunted, always
Hi, I'm only a programmer in my spare time - in my 'real' life I'm a producer for a famous British Broadcaster
Part of my job (a big part) is concerned with trying to find ways to protect ownership of concepts. For instance, TV show formats.
It's NOT possible to protect an idea for a quiz show, you can employ an old-fashioned method for proving you came-up with it.
(Do this by posting a detailed synopsis to yourself using a courier, so the date and time of the delivery are on the envelope. Never open the seals on the envelope. Just deposit it in a bank safety deposit box. That way you have a time-stamped irrefutable record of when the idea was developed by you.)
But broadcasters around the world rip-off each other's shows and ideas all the time and it's a pain in the backside for lawyers to have to try to prove that an idea has been stolen. More often than not, it's not worth going to court!
I'm currently working on a software project of my own that I know will tap into a previously-untapped section of the online market, and I'm protecting that by just not telling people too much about it!
Good luck though! -
W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
limalicas wrote:Hi, I'm only a programmer in my spare time - in my 'real' life I'm a producer for a famous British Broadcaster
Part of my job (a big part) is concerned with trying to find ways to protect ownership of concepts. For instance, TV show formats.
It's NOT possible to protect an idea for a quiz show, you can employ an old-fashioned method for proving you came-up with it.
(Do this by posting a detailed synopsis to yourself using a courier, so the date and time of the delivery are on the envelope. Never open the seals on the envelope. Just deposit it in a bank safety deposit box. That way you have a time-stamped irrefutable record of when the idea was developed by you.)
But broadcasters around the world rip-off each other's shows and ideas all the time and it's a pain in the backside for lawyers to have to try to prove that an idea has been stolen. More often than not, it's not worth going to court!
I'm currently working on a software project of my own that I know will tap into a previously-untapped section of the online market, and I'm protecting that by just not telling people too much about it!
Good luck though!
...can I blame you for The Weakest Link then?
Admittantly, it was great when it started out, what with the proper, high-school head teacher-style humilation, but she toned it down afterwards.
It was kinda funny seeing the contestants break down into tears, but now its no fun :/
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limalicas
Happily daunted, always
W3bbo wrote:...can I blame you for The Weakest Link then?
Sorry, that is one of ours! I accept all blame lol!
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Dude get Cluedo back on the frigging air!
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Yggdrasil
Pour me a cab, 'cause I can't drink no more.
limalicas wrote:(Do this by posting a detailed synopsis to yourself using a courier, so the date and time of the delivery are on the envelope. Never open the seals on the envelope. Just deposit it in a bank safety deposit box. That way you have a time-stamped irrefutable record of when the idea was developed by you.)
Do note that this is NOT a foolproof way of proving previous ownership - especially in the US:
http://www.snopes.com/legal/postmark.asp
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