Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: Idea

Unfortunately, we can't protect ideas; that would be thought police, and we're not there yet (ESP is a foggy skill, at best).

We can and do protect the EXPRESSION of ideas, and there is a big difference. This is done through patent (for useful inventions), copyright (for works of authorship) or trademark (for business goodwill).

As to what steps you need to take, your next step is to consult an attorney who handles intellectual property matters to determine the best course of action for you. If your "idea" is an invention, you need to contact specifically a patent attorney (not all intellectual property attorneys are patent attorneys, but all patent attorneys are intellectual property attorneys).

You are welcome to contact me; I am a patent attorney and I also regularly handle trademark and copyright matters for a reasonable fee.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

Re: Idea

Don't tell anyone. When you do talk, make sure you have a non-disclosure and non-compete contract in place first.

Re: Idea

Mr. Nance's advice not to tell anyone and to have noncompete/nondisclosure agreements in place is pretty specifically to keep your patent -- invention -- rights in place, and it is good advice there since there is a time element that starts ticking away as soon as you publicly use or disclose the invention, and once you pass the one-year mark after disclosure without having applied for a patent, your patent rights are gone for good.

With trademark, you absolutely DO want to tell the world; you want to use the mark, preferably in interstate commerce, as a mark even before you apply for registration.

With copyright, there is no time bar between the first public use/display/reading and application for copyright protection (the sooner you apply, the better, though).

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.