Pelican OT and the law...

[dd74]

I'm wondering, and hope a legal-minded individual can step in here and help out: but despite Pelican OT, or any other forum being public, what sort of protection does an individual have in regard to their ideas, whatever they may be, from being stolen once those ideas are announced (posted)?

All I can think of as far as protection goes, is that a person can show a time stamp between their idea's posting, and when (if) it is potentially stolen and/or used (each one of our posts are time and date stamped).

Anyway, I'm just wondering. Are there any thoughts or answers concerning this?

[Nathans_Dad]

I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night BUT, I would think that once you broadcast your idea over a public forum you no longer have the rights to that idea. Sorta like if you talked about your idea over the radio or TV without a patent and then someone else puts it into production.

I think you are out of luck unless you apply for a patent prior to talking about your idea with another person.

[dd74]

I tend to agree with you, Rick. Quite a few very interesting ideas have come up in Pelican Tech., and I just wonder if there is some sort of protection that those entrepreneurs might have.

[Z-man]

** searching for dd74's detailed description of a perpetual motion machine here on pelican **

Then, it's off to the patent office!

-Z

[notfarnow]

Originally posted by Z-man
** searching for dd74's detailed description of a perpetual motion machine here on pelican **

Then, it's off to the patent office!

-Z

Gererator!

[RallyJon]

If you post it here, Wayne owns it. At least that's what the terms of use said last time I looked.

If you ask nicely, he may license your idea back to you for a royalty.

[cegerer]

Slight tangent: it's sometimes easy to forget that everything you post is memorialized on the internet forever! And can be searched and found by anyone who so desires. When I recently sold my e46 M3 to a guy in Canada, there was a bit of a 'dispute' at the border. In short, Canadian Customs actually called me on my cellphone (I'm a US citizen) while they were detaining the purchaser and car. They interrogated me and wanted to know what websites I advertised the car on. They proceeded to log onto each site and read thru the posts and comments in an attempt to prove that we were conspiring on the declared sale price!!!! This went on for 45 minutes. Be careful what you post.

[craigster59]

Yeah, I posted my idea on the internet and someone already stole it....

[charlesbahn]

I certainly hope LAMBO, the gererator model, is protected

[Hurra912]

When it comes to a patent, it really only matters how good your Lawyer is and how deep your pockets are. I have seen many good ideas from one-timers crushed by major corporations.

Wayne

[dd74]

Wayne (Hurra 912) has a good point, IMO.

For example, fuzzily, I remember about 10 or 15 yrs. ago, a man sued either GM or it was the big three collectively, for "stealing" his invention of the intermittant windshield wiper.

Now what if that person posted that invention here on this forum? Jon says Wayne owns what is posted - which makes sense up until the point of this being called a "public forum."

So, legally, is the invention Wayne's? Is it still owned by the man who came up with the intermittant wiper? Or is it now public domain?

[M.D. Holloway]

I don't think Wayne would be so bold as to pull jerk when it came donwn to it. He has a legal right to all that is posted but at the end of the day he has built this business on being a good guy and not a prick. One swanky trick and this site starts loosing mindshare real fast. It would not be a very wise business decision. Wayne strikes me as being a bit more savy.

All, keep in mind. Good, no make that great ideas are a dime a dozen. The trick is the follow through. You could have a marginal product or business idea and with the right kinda work become pretty darn well off.

There is no trick to making it and no magic somethin somethin that will make you a Rockstar overnight save Megamillions.

[Hurra912]

I think it's safe to say if an idea has been posted here and is viewable from around the world including countries that don't adhere to international patent laws it has just become someone else's idea. If, that is, it is thought to be profitable.

I'm no legal expert, but IMO the only thing a patent may due is buy you time before you're idea is copied, slightly modified and turned into your competition.

W

[Dottore]

You guys should be aware that forums such as this one are constantly plundered by hack writers looking for ideas, dialogue, witticisms - and even characters.

I mean who could come up with the characters like Fintstone or Mul or Snowman for example when all of ones friends are reasonably intelligent liberals?

Why, I have even heard that such hacks sometimes troll these forums by posting new threads on topics like "Faith" and "Why we haven't killed OBL" just because they need some bright ideas on these subjects for their cheap novels!

Shocking but true. Caveat Poster.

[bryanthompson]

Originally posted by Dottore
You guys should be aware that forums such as this one are constantly plundered by hack writers looking for ideas, dialogue, witticisms - and even characters.

Yep, that's what I'm here for. Just one big social experiment, and you all got sucked in.

[Rot 911]

The only two things that I know of off hand that have a copyright upon creation is artwork and music. Everything else requires action on your part to protect your creation. You post your idea on here and don't have a patent to it, you are SOL.

[tabs]

I havn't seen anything that is worth while stealing by any of U Boyz...its all just mundane hack quality....Even the Bright Boy Jackie O comes off as an idiot...and he a paid proffessional.

I'm the only one here that makes the jump from cr@p to brillance...and while some of the stuff that I write might be stolen...they don't realize that if they do steal it or even just read it I have just exerted influence over their thinking. It sometimes amazes me how often some thought of mine comes back as an orginal observation by another Poster a couple of months later...

In other words what I am after is insidious, I am after Mind Control....hehehehehe....

[TWork]

In the US, if you have a patentable idea and you make it public, you have one year from the time of publication to file a patent on that idea. After that, you lose any rights. This is commonly known as the 1-year bar.

[JSDSKI]

Originally posted by dd74
For example, fuzzily, I remember about 10 or 15 yrs. ago, a man sued either GM or it was the big three collectively, for "stealing" his invention of the intermittant windshield wiper.

And he won. They had to pay him royalties.

The difference is that he went to them with a developed prototype and they turned it down. You patent specific things not ideas. You can patent a specific perpetual motion machine design not the idea for a perpetual motion machine. Your idea and patent for the perpetual motion machine does not mean that you own the rights for all perpetual motion machine designs (and their patents) now and forever.

[dd74]

Yes, he did win. I remember that.