Hi all.. Well whilst 'brain storming' ideas for new websites in my mind, I had an idea that I think could be MASSIVE.. And I really do mean, massive.. I think this idea could revolutionize the internet as we know it! Infact, just thinking about it makes me excited! But onto my question! How do I protect this idea? Before I can 'officially' start the website in the way it's intended, I need to 'spread the word' and have the website properly set up, but to do this I need to explain my idea publicly. But as the project won't have started, what's to stop someone just stealing the idea from me and potentially beating me to it? Also, the 'slogan' I desire to use for my website, is very simple, and I imagine there's a good chance it could already be copyrighted/trademarked, how can I check this? Thanks, -nmx
theres no way of protecting the idea, like digg or youtube, you just can't do it. you can monoplise the market, so its hard for people to get in ( just like digg and youtube) and you can make up a Confidentiality Agreement with the partners on the project/idea
I see.. Problem is I will have to allow public sign ups on the pre-launch site, so I have to explain my idea to the visitors which means even people who don't get involved know the general idea. How exactly did Youtube & Digg monoplise the market? Thanks, -nmx
they made it so, a big% of people only uses their site for that market. meaning they have the major userbase for that market. if you can do the same thing with your idea/market then you'll be right.
There is only one when to protect your great, original idea: start developing it. Start creating your site today! Don't wait, don't think twice. Tomorrow could be too late.
A few years ago, I had an awesome idea that no one else was doing. It was very similar to Yahoo Answers, only YA didn't exist at that time. I sunk $6000 into developing the site. It took me a month to write the spec and get two programmers on board. The development time for the protoype was 4 months. At the end of that time, 5 months later, Yahoo Answers had launched, plus 3 other similar sites. In addition, the idea had actually been around for a few years, I just wasn't aware of any sites that did it. All I'm saying is that it's extremely unlikely that your idea is totally original. If it doesn't currently exist on the web, you should assume someone else is working on it. The best thing you can do to protect it is to get going and start executing. 99% of people don't have the time, money, and interest required to steal your idea, so I wouldn't worry about it. If you want to search trademarks, use this: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=spj31q.1.1
Ideas don't sell and make money,Ideas are only 1%, its advertising that's all. you could even sell stones if you know how to market
good advice, I would add to ensure you are not sued because you were "second" - register a cheap company with the purpose of building a business around the idea only - if it fails, the limited liability kicks in - just an idea
Good advice Zexy! Short, sweet, and oh so true. R0b: So you don't believe Y!A copied you, you just believe the idea was not as original as you thought? (A'la it was already done/in progress) My idea is definitely not completely original, but personally i've never come across a site like it and would have thought I would of if it was done.. Though I do know of a site with a similar thing going, but they're still very different in their own respects. I believe my site should be very cheap to set up and cost, which is a +, so that should mean more profit which means more advertising! I will discuss with my current coder in mind the idea later, though I may be looking for a new coder so if you're very good at coding (HTML,CSS,PHP etc) then feel free to send me a PM to discuss. I hope I can get this project up and running ASAP, and hopefully it'll be as big as i'm expecting. Thanks, -nmx
NMX, Y/A didn't copy me, because qunu.com, guruza.com, yedda.com, and a dozen other Q&A sites all came out within in a 6 month period. The time was right for the idea. We were all working independently, but thinking similar things. Hell, even when Darwin was ready to publish "The Origin of Species" Alfred Russell Wallace almost beat him to it.
Honestly, you can't protect ideas. Someone will follow suit if your idea pans out. Get moving on your project and don't stop until you're at the top.
First, do as much research as you can to make sure someone else hasn't already developed a similar solution. Next, move quickly to begin developing your product/service. When you start advertising, don't give out too much information about what you're going to be providing. Tease people letting them know that you'll be providing a solution to a certain problem, but don't tell them what the solution is. Finally, get to market quickly. Don't let too much time pass between the time you begin advertising and when you actually go to market. This is when competitors can come in and beat you to market.
Unfortunately, ideas cannot be protected. Every great invention starts out with an idea, but in order to protect yourself you need to turn the idea into some type of tangible embodiment that can be described in the form of a patent application. Alternatively, as some have suggested, you can try a confidentiality agreement, but it is difficult to get people and businesses to sign those if all you have is an idea. If you are stuck on an idea and do not know how to progress toward turning it into an invention I suggest Moving From Idea to Patent. In the US virtually everything is patentable, whether it be a method, process, business method, software, device, machine, whatever. If your idea is all that then you probably do have an invention lurking. Good luck. _Gene Patent Attorney & Founder of IPWatchdog.com
call a lawyer and ask them about getting a patent or some type of protection of privacy law then go out into the public and do the campaign I would also say do as much work as possible before you set up the offline campaign then once everything is already set up then start to promote when most of the kinks are worked out