How to protect an original idea?
December 6, 2011 2:30 PM Subscribe
How do I protect my software idea so that it's not stolen or copied?
I am not a software guy nor has the software been developed. But it's a good idea that could potentially be lucrative and widely used if pulled off correctly.
I am not a software guy nor has the software been developed. But it's a good idea that could potentially be lucrative and widely used if pulled off correctly.
The best way to protect it is to pull it off correctly and make it lucrative and widely used, quickly. Once you pull ahead and start making some money or get some investment, you can continue to innovate and gain customers. This is a great way to protect your idea since everybody else will have to catch up with you or at least satisfy themselves with a different area of the market you compete in. Plus, while you're protecting it you're also building a great company that helps a lot of people and makes you money.
Or, perhaps you just want to keep others from using the idea while you work on yours, or wait for someone to execute the idea and then sue them. The way to do that is with a software patent. Honestly, it is not very effective if you don't have the stomach to enforce it, and there are large companies who will fight you with fire (their own patents that may or may not overlap with yours.) Plus, it's not a very nice thing to do to somebody who's just trying to bring a great idea to a lot of people.
posted by michaelh at 2:40 PM on December 6, 2011 [5 favorites]
Or, perhaps you just want to keep others from using the idea while you work on yours, or wait for someone to execute the idea and then sue them. The way to do that is with a software patent. Honestly, it is not very effective if you don't have the stomach to enforce it, and there are large companies who will fight you with fire (their own patents that may or may not overlap with yours.) Plus, it's not a very nice thing to do to somebody who's just trying to bring a great idea to a lot of people.
posted by michaelh at 2:40 PM on December 6, 2011 [5 favorites]
I am an IP attorney but I am not your IP attorney. This is not legal advice.
There are many approaches that can be taken, and which one is right for your depends upon many factors, including where you (or, more properly, the eventual product or service) are located, whether it's a public-facing product or something used internally by companies, the product's business model, whether the innovative aspect of the product is visible or hidden to the end user, and—perhaps most importantly—your budget. All of these factors and more go into deciding what mix of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, contractual agreements, and simple first-mover advantage are the best way to commercialize your idea.
You should consult with a competent IP attorney in your jurisdiction; he or she can help you figure out what legal protections, if any, are appropriate in your case.
posted by jedicus at 2:54 PM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
There are many approaches that can be taken, and which one is right for your depends upon many factors, including where you (or, more properly, the eventual product or service) are located, whether it's a public-facing product or something used internally by companies, the product's business model, whether the innovative aspect of the product is visible or hidden to the end user, and—perhaps most importantly—your budget. All of these factors and more go into deciding what mix of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, contractual agreements, and simple first-mover advantage are the best way to commercialize your idea.
You should consult with a competent IP attorney in your jurisdiction; he or she can help you figure out what legal protections, if any, are appropriate in your case.
posted by jedicus at 2:54 PM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
The answers to this question may be helpful (the asker is wondering how to make his idea a reality, but includes points on trying to protect ideas):
http://ask.metafilter.com/199743/How-do-I-realize-my-simple-yet-amazing-software-idea
posted by justkevin at 3:02 PM on December 6, 2011
http://ask.metafilter.com/199743/How-do-I-realize-my-simple-yet-amazing-software-idea
posted by justkevin at 3:02 PM on December 6, 2011
As a software guy I plead and beg - don't go down this route.
Unless your idea is something incredibly sophisticated and technical - a new encryption scheme or a bullet-proof self-driving-car AI, then you don't really know if its so great and lucrative. You have to build it, and you have to build it right, thats the only way to know. And if your idea did belong to the aforementioned category, I seriously doubt you'd be asking this question.
And if your idea is awesome but somebody beats you to the punch - I think that's totally fair, and you shouldn't stop the world from benefiting from this awesome idea because you're dragging your heels in getting it built, and one way or another (patents?) stopping the next guy from doing it too.
posted by tempythethird at 3:23 PM on December 6, 2011 [14 favorites]
Unless your idea is something incredibly sophisticated and technical - a new encryption scheme or a bullet-proof self-driving-car AI, then you don't really know if its so great and lucrative. You have to build it, and you have to build it right, thats the only way to know. And if your idea did belong to the aforementioned category, I seriously doubt you'd be asking this question.
And if your idea is awesome but somebody beats you to the punch - I think that's totally fair, and you shouldn't stop the world from benefiting from this awesome idea because you're dragging your heels in getting it built, and one way or another (patents?) stopping the next guy from doing it too.
posted by tempythethird at 3:23 PM on December 6, 2011 [14 favorites]
I would recommend you consider starting off with the question "How much would I like to charge for my software?" because that will help you address how you might turn your idea into something you can make a living from. Joel Spolsky's "Camels and Rubber Duckies" is a good introduction to this non intuitive area. Once you have come up with a plan for this area it is far easier to work out a strategy for protecting your software.
posted by rongorongo at 3:41 PM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 3:41 PM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think it was Isaac Asimov who had non-writers keep on approaching him with ideas for stories, thinking that he could do the writing for him. The problem, he said, was that anyone can come up with an idea for a story: It's whether one is a good writer or not that determines whether it's a good story.
What I mean is, you are not a software guy and this software has not yet been developed. There's a huge gulf of things that would need to be implemented between where you are now and your idea actually having a shot at making it big. For all you know, there's a real reason this software idea hasn't been used before, something a software person would know.
Talk to a programmer friend. See what they think. By the fact that you're asking this question here, it's rather doubtful that you'll be the next Winkelvoss.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:12 PM on December 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
What I mean is, you are not a software guy and this software has not yet been developed. There's a huge gulf of things that would need to be implemented between where you are now and your idea actually having a shot at making it big. For all you know, there's a real reason this software idea hasn't been used before, something a software person would know.
Talk to a programmer friend. See what they think. By the fact that you're asking this question here, it's rather doubtful that you'll be the next Winkelvoss.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:12 PM on December 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
As another software guy, I urge you to heed what tempythethird and dunkadunc are saying.
Over the last 25 years, I have developed 3 very successful software products from an idea. And in each case, close friends who saw working prototypes along the way, never got the eureka moment that was driving me to finish. I held nothing back.
Really, no one is going to steal your idea. You can tell the world and it just won't matter. Because 99.9% of what makes an idea into a great product is an
overwhelming,
unbelievable,
non-stop,
terminator-like drive,
that it takes to never give up, and write the code to make it happen. Really. Truly.
posted by Land Ho at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
Over the last 25 years, I have developed 3 very successful software products from an idea. And in each case, close friends who saw working prototypes along the way, never got the eureka moment that was driving me to finish. I held nothing back.
Really, no one is going to steal your idea. You can tell the world and it just won't matter. Because 99.9% of what makes an idea into a great product is an
overwhelming,
unbelievable,
non-stop,
terminator-like drive,
that it takes to never give up, and write the code to make it happen. Really. Truly.
posted by Land Ho at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
Essentially, you'd want to become a patent troll. If claiming an idea as entirely your own, then doing nothing with it, then waiting for someone else to have the idea, then waiting for them to spend thousands or millions and lots of time and effort to bring it to market, then suing them sounds like not just a fun time but a sound business model, then patent trolling is for you.
I note you ask nothing about software development, marketing, etc. You merely ask about how you can monetize an idea. (For more about treating ideas like property check out this page or this page with a long list of arguments.) Like others here, I'm urging you not to go down this path for reasons beyond the idea that ideas are a dime a dozen and that it is execution (which would include things like development and marketing) that matters.
However, if you still think legal protection for the novel idea you'd like to claim ownership of, you'll need to heed jedicus' advice and (like all other MeFi legal advice threads) seek the advice of a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.
posted by Brian Puccio at 8:40 PM on December 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
I note you ask nothing about software development, marketing, etc. You merely ask about how you can monetize an idea. (For more about treating ideas like property check out this page or this page with a long list of arguments.) Like others here, I'm urging you not to go down this path for reasons beyond the idea that ideas are a dime a dozen and that it is execution (which would include things like development and marketing) that matters.
However, if you still think legal protection for the novel idea you'd like to claim ownership of, you'll need to heed jedicus' advice and (like all other MeFi legal advice threads) seek the advice of a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.
posted by Brian Puccio at 8:40 PM on December 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
If you truly have a unique idea that people want, (I hate to say it but this is unlikely,) consider that the barrier to entry for software development is extremely low. There are a lot of clever guys out there looking for their next project. Some of them are not in it for the money.
Patents cost time and money, and you need deep pockets to enforce them. Can your idea even be patented? Software protection schemes work like locks and keys, they only keep out the honest.
So, if you truly have a cool idea that you, with your presumably limited resources can pull off, then there will be clones. If you have commercial software and people like it, it will be pirated - fact of life. Very few internet users are willing to pay for something that they can get for free.
After all that, if you still want to proceed, then start free. That removes the motivation for anyone to pirate the software. Once the demand for your idea is proven, add a charge, either for added features, or donations. Or make it so low, that your users consider it negligible. I've seen a product start free, then cost $15 for lifetime free updates, and ten years later it's now $100+ per version.
If you know little about software development, then be prepared to do the project two or three times before you get it right.
posted by w.fugawe at 2:20 AM on December 7, 2011
Patents cost time and money, and you need deep pockets to enforce them. Can your idea even be patented? Software protection schemes work like locks and keys, they only keep out the honest.
So, if you truly have a cool idea that you, with your presumably limited resources can pull off, then there will be clones. If you have commercial software and people like it, it will be pirated - fact of life. Very few internet users are willing to pay for something that they can get for free.
After all that, if you still want to proceed, then start free. That removes the motivation for anyone to pirate the software. Once the demand for your idea is proven, add a charge, either for added features, or donations. Or make it so low, that your users consider it negligible. I've seen a product start free, then cost $15 for lifetime free updates, and ten years later it's now $100+ per version.
If you know little about software development, then be prepared to do the project two or three times before you get it right.
posted by w.fugawe at 2:20 AM on December 7, 2011
How do I protect my software idea so that it's not stolen or copied?
Your software idea, if it's a good one, will be copied. The best way to "protect" it is to do such a great job of building and marketing it that you get loads of customers and become the clear market leader.
posted by primer_dimer at 2:29 AM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]
Your software idea, if it's a good one, will be copied. The best way to "protect" it is to do such a great job of building and marketing it that you get loads of customers and become the clear market leader.
posted by primer_dimer at 2:29 AM on December 7, 2011 [4 favorites]
Keep in mind, it isn't stolen or copied if someone comes up with it independently. Unless you're currently shopping your idea around to potential developers, then why does it need protecting? All you'd be doing is stifling somebody else from pursuing their own great idea.
posted by gregoryg at 11:27 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by gregoryg at 11:27 AM on December 7, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thedaniel at 2:38 PM on December 6, 2011 [3 favorites]