Idea Protection

Generally, ideas cannot be protected; only the way ideas are expressed in a tangible form such as a writing, photograph, sound recording, drawing, and so on can be protected under copyright, patent, or trade secret law. For example, an idea about two young people in love is not protectable, but once turned into a novel or a song the expression of the idea is protectable. Similarly, a business idea can’t be registered. The reason is that lawmakers and courts want to promote competition. Copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets essentially are monopolies against unauthorized copying. If basic, underlying ideas were protectable, only a few people or firms would be able to benefit. Shakespeare might not have been able to write "Romeo and Juliet," and the Beatles couldn’t have recorded “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Ideas can, however, have value and often must be exposed to others to get work or procure funding for development. Writers, for example, have to submit ideas to publishers, television, and motion picture producers, and many inventers have to license or sell their ideas to manufacturers. Unfortunately, law books contain many cases where ideas were revealed, only to later appear in the recipient’s work or catalog after the proposal was rejected or returned.

This area of the law may appear to offer more protection to infringers, unfortunately. This is because it is often difficult to prove an idea was actually shared with an accused or predated the accused’s generation of a similar idea. Many times what appears to be infringing use of an idea is mere coincidence so you have to be able to prove the defendant actually saw your material.

Despite these problems, steps can be taken to guard ideas from misappropriation or to deal with infringements. Because ideas are not registrable, methods of protecting ideas are often best if individually crafted.

The experience of the Law Office of David MacTavish offers a full range of services to address your idea protection and expression needs and questions.



         The information you obtain at this site or by e-mail is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice.
                    You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
                                                                      Copyright 2008 David MacTavish