Scarlet wrote:Please correct me if I'm wrong, but someone once said that a way of protecting intellectual property is to registered post it to yourself and leave it sealed.... I dont think this would be foolproof...it might be a cheap option to start with though
[ Edited on 22-3-2006 by Scarlet ]
This is a good way to prove (and date) authorship and thus enforce your copyright rights, particulalrly applicable to things you author, e.g. song lyrics & music, computer programs, articles and works of art. However, it does not provide general "intellectual property" protection for ideas.
For example, I can write:
"It would be a good idea to set up a mobile Volkswagen lowering service called Bug-Slam-Mobile".
The words I wrote are my authorship and are protected by copyright; except for some 'fair use' provisions of the act, you can't reproduce these words without my permission and, possibly, remuneration. However, nothing prevents you from setting up a mobile Volkswagen lowering service called Bug-Slam-Mobile, unless I have registered that trade name (I haven't; go right ahead).
Even if I have registered the name Bug-Slam-Mobile, nothing prevents you from setting up a mobile Volkswagen lowering service called VW-Slammo_Comes-To-You, because my idea is not *patentable*, for a number of reasons including that it is not novel (think Lub-mobile) and it is obvious (it's just an extension of exisiting business practices into another area of coverage).
No matter how brilliant squizy's idea is, he will have difficulty in obtaining IP protection for it, as ideas are difficult to protect. Business advantage can come from a number of other potential advantages of being first to implement an idea, such as early capture of a controlling market share, barriers to entry, pure novelty etc., but are less likely to be found in the form of legal protection for IP.
hth