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milkboy007
October 23rd, 2011, 08:23 PM
im in the process of writing an(my) idea
more of a new concept for education and/or presentation
AFAIK, these idea are original and not stolen.
i will do some research into my idea, if it actually exist or not
for now, i need some help in clarifying any legal help

first, if im in the wrong section, pls point me in the right one.:grin:
i have no idea where to post or who to email, and this place seems right,
since theres no legal section, any other precedence regarding something similar
, and i want ubuntu to be the platform that my idea is gonna be developed:lolflag:
if not,
im gonna try to write my new idea.
and i need to know how to "copyleft" it, something like GPL if possible, or Creative Commons licences
FOR PUBLICATION OF IDEA or TECH CONCEPT
so than no one (mostly the big evil companies) may steal it and COPYRIGHT it under their names,
and create a Proprietary software from it. and accusing FOSS for stealing ideas
i want to keep it open, so that it may be developed by anyone.

extra info,
its about NEW concept(AFAIK) of
virtual learning environment (VLE), mostly
digital interaction , which could be used for class and/or conference

i dont want to leak anymore stuff before it is check for originality, then written down

thx

ps tried searching for prior post and tried google
so please dont tell me to search or google it.

xaronic
October 23rd, 2011, 08:29 PM
GPL means that people can use your code and use it in their product but they must also release the parts of GPL'd code that they have used.

milkboy007
October 23rd, 2011, 08:35 PM
i believe thats is for programing
what i want to know is for article or publication of an idea

sry i wasnt clear

before any real programing can be done first i need to make a concept.
gather some people interested.
plus i wont be the one who will be doing most of the programming since i lack the skill needed

i just need legal protection for my idea agaist big companies like MS, blackboard inc., etc.....

so to stress this point
ITS FOR PUBLICATION AND NEW TECH CONCEPT.

lisati
October 23rd, 2011, 08:40 PM
Thread moved to The Community Cafe.

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know, in many places, there's an automatic assumption of copyright on original works. Not that it means much to those who would want to rip off your idea.

There's also "Creative Commons" (http://creativecommons.org/)

milkboy007
October 23rd, 2011, 08:51 PM
thx for moving the thread:)

i was editing my post about that when you replied

anyone here has expirience or know someone who has?

afz12
October 23rd, 2011, 08:55 PM
Its been a while since I have been involved in patent issues - I suspect you may want to follow this. My experience, e.g. with A.J. Parks is that patents can take months to years and cost ~$10,000. However you can lodge an invention (perhaps ~$50) prior to pursuing the patent route, or not bothering. This provides some protection beyond copyright - which is probably assumed. However, these vehicles do not necessarily prevent others using your ideas, nor do they provide legal ammunition free of charge if you chase up transgressors - in some countries this may not even be possible. However, you can prevent other's claiming your IP as theirs and then attempting legal actions against you for using ideas originally of your own! This turn of events is best avoided. Therefore, lodging your invention at a patent office is probably a good idea. This will record a suitable summary and time-stamp. Others might still plagiarise but you will have legal evidence of having memorialized your invention(s) first. Good luck, keep up the imagination!

forrestcupp
October 23rd, 2011, 09:06 PM
A copyright only covers something written, not a modifiable idea. Maybe you could write up a protocol or set of standards and copyright that. As far as how it works, it depends on where you live. Like Lisati said, in the US, a copyright is automatically placed on something as soon as you write it. The problem is proving when you wrote something. You can either do that by actually paying a fee and registering your copyright, or other creative methods, which may not be as solid in court. A couple of ways I've heard to prove your copyright date are to save a digital copy on your computer in a place where it will never be altered, and it will have a time stamp on it. Another one is to print it out and mail it to yourself and leave the postage date stamped envelope unopened until you need it in court. I guess having it notarized might help, too.

Beyond that, you're talking about IP, intellectual property, and a lot of people around here don't take kindly to that.

But also, I don't know of any lawyers here, so you can't really stand on anything that any of us say.

milkboy007
October 23rd, 2011, 09:07 PM
Its been a while since I have been involved in patent issues - I suspect you may want to follow this. My experience, e.g. with A.J. Parks is that patents can take months to years and cost ~$10,000. However you can lodge an invention (perhaps ~$50) prior to pursuing the patent route, or not bothering. This provides some protection beyond copyright - which is probably assumed. However, these vehicles do not necessarily prevent others using your ideas, nor do they provide legal ammunition free of charge if you chase up transgressors - in some countries this may not even be possible. However, you can prevent other's claiming your IP as theirs and then attempting legal actions against you for using ideas originally of your own! This turn of events is best avoided. Therefore, lodging your invention at a patent office is probably a good idea. This will record a suitable summary and time-stamp. Others might still plagiarise but you will have legal evidence of having memorialized your invention(s) first. Good luck, keep up the imagination!

that what i was looking for.
thx alot dude
that answered most of my question and worries

last question,is applying a Creative Commons license enough or do i need to lodge my patents to US PATENT OFFICE.

or may be by posting my ideas here is good enough

i dont wanna pay so much for my free idea and software im gonna develope
but i also dun wanna anyone ttempting legal actions against me for my ideas

any advices

del_diablo
October 23rd, 2011, 09:31 PM
milkboy007: Your in great luck, apparently the US has changed its system to first to file, which means that if you have a blog post or git repo with the stuff prior to them getting their patent, their patent is now invalid because there is prior art.

Secondly: Whoever takes you to court loses, unless their a really large company it will cost to much to get a lawyer.
See if there exists "lawyer insurance", basically a insurance that gives you a free lawyer if you want to go to court for whatever reason.

milkboy007
October 23rd, 2011, 09:44 PM
milkboy007: Your in great luck, apparently the US has changed its system to first to file, which means that if you have a blog post or git repo with the stuff prior to them getting their patent, their patent is now invalid because there is prior art.

Secondly: Whoever takes you to court loses, unless their a really large company it will cost to much to get a lawyer.
See if there exists "lawyer insurance", basically a insurance that gives you a free lawyer if you want to go to court for whatever reason.

kewl, u rock dude
i guess as long as i blog/publish it becomes prior art.
ait, i guess i should be doing some research into my idea, see if theres any prior similar ones

on another note,
i think this is an important advices that should be documented for new developer
like moi.
i mean im a self tought, from the net, no one tought me about the legal mumbo jumbo attached with it.

these info arent available on the net AFAIK
do you guys think we/ i should write these ADVICES somewhere?
or its already written and i just sux at finding these stuff:p

Mark Phelps
October 24th, 2011, 03:47 PM
First of all, you can't patent an "idea" just because you want to. It has to be original, it has to be non-intuitive, and it has to be a specific instance of how something is done.

For example, you couldn't patent the idea of attaching wheels to a cart to make a wagon. That's not original, it's not unique, and it would be considered "obvious".

You can't patent concepts -- at least, not abstract concepts that do not deal with the specifics of how something it done.

As for "lawyer insurance" -- while various places do have "free" legal advice available (i.e., Legal Aid), having already gone this route, I can tell you that it is work exactly what you pay for it -- nothing.

As for "prior art" while that rule is valid, how do you know that someone else has not already thought up the same idea? Just because you put something on a blog does not make it "prior art", it just makes it something you wrote. You would have to do an extensive search to confirm that no one else published the same idea as you, in order to get YOUR version considered the original one.

del_diablo
October 24th, 2011, 04:31 PM
As for "prior art" while that rule is valid, how do you know that someone else has not already thought up the same idea? Just because you put something on a blog does not make it "prior art", it just makes it something you wrote. You would have to do an extensive search to confirm that no one else published the same idea as you, in order to get YOUR version considered the original one.

Thats not exactly how it works.
You shall only do a small bit of research, and beyond that it is up to the patent holders to make you aware of it.
But the most important part: Even if they claim you should roll over and play dead, if there is no reason to do that(no direct infrigiment) just take them to court with the charge of "attempting blackmailing".

milkboy007
October 24th, 2011, 05:58 PM
First of all, you can't patent an "idea" just because you want to. It has to be original, it has to be non-intuitive, and it has to be a specific instance of how something is done.....

As for "prior art" while that rule is valid, how do you know that someone else has not already thought up the same idea? Just because you put something on a blog does not make it "prior art", it just makes it something you wrote. You would have to do an extensive search to confirm that no one else published the same idea as you, in order to get YOUR version considered the original one.

As far as i know, my idea are original.
right know i am doing reasearch about any prior similar idea around, before writing anything(write now working on the whole system concept)
so thx for the concern.

what worries me is that poeple taking my idea as their own, to assert monopoly.
preventing any open source alternative, via legal wrangel.
i personnally dont care if im not credited.
not principle, just moral obligation.

im aware of few case, where the big company does that.
one such famous case like, intermittent wipers, Robert Kearns vs Ford.
if you are an avid movie goers, you'll probably know this.

or MS claimed that openoffice and the linux kerenel violate 235 Microsoft patents.
no legal pursuit though

Dr. C
October 25th, 2011, 12:42 AM
If I understand this correctly what the OP is looking for is to copyleft a patent. I would contact the FSF (http://www.fsf.org/) on this one.

One possibility that may work in jurisdictions with software patents is to patent the concept and then provide a license to use the concept in software under the condition that the software implementing the concept be licensed as GPL V3+.