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Stop Thief! How to Stop Someone from Stealing Your Idea
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Apr 2010
In a world where ideas and information can spread quickly, how can you protect your brilliant idea from being stolen?
If you have an exciting new concept you want to introduce to the world, you should protect it before you share it. In the United States there are several different types of protection you can receive for your business idea, original work or other type of intellectual property including trademarks, copyrights and patents. Learn more about each, below.
Trademarks
Trademarks usually relate to businesses and their unique brand identity—they’re the TM and SM symbols you’ve seen on company marketing materials. Among other articles, a trademarked item can be a unique name, word or symbol (such as a logo) used by a business to identify itself.
In the 1950s, Gene and Betty Hoots expanded their Frigid Queen ice cream stand in Lincoln, Illinois to include burgers and fries. With the expanded menu came a new name. Rich Whittle wrote about their story on Business-opportunities.biz, explaining that the Hoots decided their queen deserved a king, so they changed their name to Burger King.They registered the name with the State and were granted exclusive state-rights to the name.
Within 10 years though, another Burger King was opening up throughout Illinois. To the Hoots dismay, the franchise had opened more than 50 Burger King restaurants in the state. In an effort to stop the corporate giant, The Hoots' sued and won. Sort of.
While the Hoots retained their rights to use the name Burger King within a 20-mile radius of Lincoln, Illinois, they did not succeed in preventing the franchise from growing their business throughout the state. According to Whittle, the giant Burger King retained the rights to use the name because they had grown to become a nationwide chain and had international Trademark protection. The one hitch: Burger King (the franchise) needs to stay outside of the Hoots' 20-mile radius, or pay them to do business there.
Copyrights
According to the US Copyright Office, a copyright is grounded in the US Constitution and protects “original works of authorship.” This can include written works (such as novels or plays), creative projects and even computer programs.
Recently, gaming giant Nintendo won a lawsuit against an Australian company that sold a product capable of duplicating Nintendo games. Nintendo’s copyright protection enabled the brand to prevent illegal duplication of its creative work—and in this case, receive a substantial payout.
Patents
A patent is protection for an invention or discovery. Obtaining a patent for your invention is a smart of way of discouraging others from stealing—and profiting from—your work. Recently Apple filed a lawsuit against HTC, a Taiwanese company that produces mobile devices for companies such as Google. Apple is claiming that HTC has infringed on 20 patents, including the technology behind touch-screens, gesture recognition and scrolling.
The US Patent and Trademark Office manages trademarks and patents. Registering a trademark with the USPTO can help prevent others from using the protected mark domestically. It also extends protection of an item outside of the US, as it can be the basis on which international trademark registration can be requested. Plus, a registration with US Customs may help stop the importation of goods that infringe upon your rights.
Protecting intellectual property is vital to preserving the right to your ideas or inventions. Stop thefts before they start by getting the protection you need today.
For more information please visit:
United States Patent and Trademark Office
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Protect your idea with a Trademark, Patent or Copyright today!
Most Viewed in Intellectual Property Basics
Comments
Submitted by on Mar 18, 2010 - 7:39PM
I came up with brilliant Marketing Idea and applied on line with the Library Of Congress. I went through Legal Zoom.The first time I called and talked to extension 318, I have the persons name written down but can't think of it right now. When I told her what my Idea was, she said did you come up with that by yourself and i said yes and she said that is awesome. I hired Tuscaloosa Technology to assist me because I,m not very good on a computer. I was told it would be 3 to 6 month before I got my official Document. I paid 167.00 on 8-19-08 to have my work registered and it was entered into the Data base in October of 2008. I have several copies of email stating these facts life my Legal zoom # and my data base SR#, but that 6 months is dragging out, it has been 18 months since it was entered into the data base, I feel let down by not getting it by now. I have been told go ahead and market your product but my copyright was stolen and is being used by most of the sports world and Legal Zoom or the Copyright Office won't help me gey it stopped. U of A intentionally stold my Idea and Partnered up with every Div 1,2,and 3 colleges amd Ncaa and SportsIllustrated I can even get it put in the paper. I am a citizen of the United States and paid taxes the whole tome I worked and I am being denied my Constitutional Rights and I am an American.Illegal aliens are treated better than me. Carl and Erwin have been nice to me but that is not putting money that is owed to me in my pockets.Yhe Penalty for Intentionally stealing a Copyright is 10 Million Dollars abd 5 years in prison. Why am I being punished and all that are Infringing my copyright are being protected.If I was breaking Copyright Laws I would be prosecuted. I think the Powers that be where-ever are trying to figure out how to get around payin me but they can't, because copyright Laws protect my work from the time I put it in a fixed Medium and that was 2003 and Alabama made a copy of My Idea in March of 2004 and started putting Dvd's out in 2005 and other schools too. Enough already, but NOLO say's by registering helps if you have to lidigate the Infringments. Legal Zoom has my money and everybody Infringing has my money too, what do expect me to do with you backing it up every few months.It is a Crime to block a citizen from getting a lawyer. It is a crime to fire people to cover up Economic Espionage. I was told by legal zoom that it is being used in 50 Countries. That just might make this the biggest money making Idea in History and I am disabled, are you proud of yourself.
Submitted by on May 12, 2010 - 2:37PM
Thank you for your comment. Since this application was originally filed with the Copyright Office, they have expanded their registration timeline to 24 months. Unfortunately, LegalZoom has no control over this change in timeline, or any way to expedite the registration timeline. The date the work is received by the Copyright Office is the official registration date, so regardless of when the registration process is completed, the date of receipt is the registration date that is stamped on the certificate.
The Copyright Office indicates that registering your work is an important first step if you wish to pursue litigation relating to copyright infringement.
While LegalZoom has no way of knowing any of the countries in which the work may or may not be being used, it is true that copyrights registered with the US Copyright Office are recognized by all of the countries with which the US has a copyright treaty. This does not mean that people in any of these countries have access to a work registered with the Copyright Office, but rather that the governments of those countries recognize the validity of the registration, and the applicant’s claim to ownership of the rights to the work.
Unfortunately, we cannot expedite the process, nor can we provide legal advice or assistance in combating copyright infringement. LegalZoom assists with the filing of legal documents, and while we will always do our best to provide excellent service, we cannot act as attorneys on a customer’s behalf. We can help you find an attorney with our Attorney Connect service: http://attorneyconnect.legalzoom.com/.
Submitted by on Mar 18, 2010 - 7:42PM
That title "Stop Thief", thats a joke, because I have done all that and it really boils down to somebody is helping the thiefs
Submitted by on Mar 24, 2010 - 6:05PM
I have created a board game which I think is quite unique. It bears some resemblance to Checkers, Go, Chess, Go Moku, and even Tic Tac Toe. I don't want to manufacture or market it, but I would like to sell the idea by licensing it.
Submitted by on Mar 24, 2010 - 6:53PM
Excellent article. Simple and to the point. I will be passing it on. Thanks!
Please note that we can’t answer legal questions in the article comments. If you have a specific legal question, click here to connect with an attorney.