Recently, I was speaking with someone about a possible startup that I am extremely interested in creating. The individual mentioned that I should seek some IP Rights on my concept because they thought it was that good and it should be on paper so I don't lose the opportunity via someone else's ability to move forward before I could. So with that in mind, has anyone ever come across something such as this, or maybe can direct me in the right direction to find out more about it, or a database that I can research to see if there is something close to my concept? Thanks
Basically, a concept, idea, etcetera, cannot be copyrighted, patented, or trademarked hence there are no intellectual property rights to it. Your best bet is to keep it hushed until you are ready to move and just work on the back end until then. Once it is developed, then there are intellectual property rights - copyrights, patents, trademarks as applicable. You can always check with an intellectual property attorney for more details in terms of keeping it hushed while you work on it, but that is the gist of what you'll find out. The following is from Circular 1, Copyright Office Basics I hope that helps.
@ MeMyselfAndI: Thanks for your input. I agree that I should keep it hush hush to a point. But during the pitch of this thing to investor, it is going to be exposed. And usually it becomes bad business to ask an investor to sign a NDA for your plan. So the only other way to protect your rights is to have it registered somehow. This concept has been done 'residentially' but not on a commercial level. That is where this thing is going to explode. I read all over people's personal sites about how they do this - display their videos and see their guest book entries and the postings of other users in forums as well. JUST ABOUT EVERYONE loves this concept and is amazed. They love the "WOW" factor of it. And if you saw it, (if you havent already) you would probably be wow'd as well! So my interest is to protect the interest of this thing as I try to bring it out on the commercial scene so that I don't lose the ability to do this within my area. Honestly - I don't care if someone does this on the West Coast commercially, as I live on the East Coast. Really has no effect on me, but as I approach people in this area, the idea/concept begins to get exposed. And where I do not have the funds or an investor as of yet, I am concerned that if someone I pitch the idea to, says naw I am not interested, and then runs out and does it right after I leave their office, then I am out of my idea. So I am just trying to protect that to some regards is all.
I can empathize with you on that. Unfortunately, I'm not a lawyer, so I can't really guide you on this. That said, your best bet is to develop a business plan - a damned good business plan and be prepared to put your wallet where your plan is, so to speak. The (arguably unfortunate) reality is: investors - that is, true investors as opposed to family, friends, and the like - are rather a cautious lot (usually/allegedly, then again look at the economic mess nowadays) and they are going to want to see a plan. An idea will not cut it. You can PM me if you want to discuss this further (I'm poor, so I don't mean as an investor), or you can continue to post here if it'll further the conversation for all.
I completely agree that investors will want to see the 'plan'. For their own security, they will want to know that you have thought every aspect of your concept through and thought it through again. They have no interest lending money with an expected ROI and a person just frivolously spending and not accomplishing their plan. I have thought it through and thought it through 50 more times. I agree that an 'idea' is worth nothing but the call to action is worth it's weight in gold. I have a couple of contingency contracts already done with potential 'venues' for this concept. I have data collection I have done for the concept over the past 3 years. I have a fairly projected financial projection for the next 3 years. I by no means, fluffed the numbers. The numbers are completely doable and the price is a competitive value. If this concept launched today, it is only priced just $2 more then our only competitor within the state. We can justify the $2 as well. I honestly think that this thing will snowball quickly when it is launched, because in the past 3 years of doing research, data collections, planning, etc., have I 'EVER' doubted this concept, and I have always believed it will work. I am the type of person that when I sink my teeth into something, I make sure I walk away with my reward. I have done some successful plans that have netted me some decent cash. This is one of those teeth sinking times! I dont own a home, if I did - I would mortgage to bring this to life I dont have decent credit - if I did I would take out a loan immediately! But I have a plan, data to back it up, and a very strong belief it will not fail and I think that gives me enough drive to move forward to pursue this and make it happen.
The best advice I can give you is to make sure you target investors that you have a decent feel for. When I say that, I mean look and see if they have any prior investments. Do some research into the investors themselves. See how they got started making their money. Look for investors that specialize in the particular area your idea is in. If you find a possible investor and find out he inherited all his money, he may be easier to get signed on compared to someone who earned it all and would be more financially smart. If they've invested before, go talk to the people they invested in, see what kind of a person the investors are, find out how detailed of a plan they had, etc. Narrow your potential list down to 3-5 people. And start with the one who may not give you a bunch of money, but you believe will give it up easier. Then work your way from there. You go to an investor that is willing to give away 25% of what you want without much thought going into it, you may be able to talk him into 50%. Then you can find someone else, and you have less to ask for.
IGiveMoney: "IP rights" is a pretty generic term. If you have a unique business plan, you may be able to obtain a patent. If you have a brand name for the product or your company, you certainly should get a trademark registration. If there is software code or other original content which you authored, you can register for copyright on those. All of those are very important if you are going to be seeking investor dollars. They will want to see that your business is appropriately formed and that you are intellectual property protected before they give any money. Your suggestion is a very common one for business start ups. There is a right and a wrong way. If you do it the wrong way, the investors will make you get your documentation and intellectual property protection in line before they commit dollars. It is best to do it from the get go. With regard to potential patent rights, you need to know that you only have one year from the date of disclosure of your concept to file for patent protection. Otherwise, you will have deemed to waive that potential protection. There is no good answer to the issue of what you should or should not disclose to potential investors. You should get a non-disclosure agreement as you indicated. However, those offer fairly limited protection if they decide to run with your business plan. There are a variety of other strategies which will provide you added protection, such as copyrighting your business plan and insuring that they are unable to copy or retain a copy of your plan after they have finished reviewing it.
I am a patent attorney and I have a lot of information on my website about protecting inventions. Take a look at: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/inventing/ and http://www.ipwatchdog.com/category/inventor-info/ I also have free sample confidentiality agreements you can use if you need to disclose information: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/tradesecret/sample-confidentiality-agreements/ Good luck. -Gene