HOW TO PROTECT YOUR BIG IDEAS?

INTRODUCTION

A successful business is a result of notable ideas. It is the idea that transforms multiple blocks of concepts, innovation, and creation, into a business plan. An idea is an important step with which the business plan becomes entrepreneurial work. With the latest developments and trends in business, the world continues to cater to new ideas and creations every day.

A few years ago, we wouldn’t have thought that our mobile phones would be able to render almost every possible service that a human being cannot. And a few years from now, even more, complex applications can replace manual works and make our lives more easy and comfortable. This is a result of an intellectual mind. So, if you have a good idea you can bring anything into reality but the only precondition is to put that idea into an expression or executable form. An idea cannot be granted legal protection solely on the basis of creativity if it cannot be put into execution.

MULTIPLE TECHNIQUES TO PROTECT YOUR IDEAS:

1. Not ideas but the expression of an idea is protected.

Not the idea, but the expression of an idea is protected by law. Every idea should be expressed in the physical form or executable form to receive protection.  A confident innovation or creation should be presented in the form of an image, a diagram, a formula, an equation, a script, a recording, etc to be able to secure protection under the law.

2. Carefully select your mentor, investor, and team to share ideas.

This is an important aspect of legal protection because ideas are valuable assets of any business organization and carry very sensitive information. In this competitive world, it would be wrong to presume that your ideas will not be used unfairly and dishonestly for someone else’s advantage and profit. It is often noticed that the unprotected and unsecured ideas get stolen during the presentation before the investors or execution period or at times when you share your ideas with a group of 30 people or a group of investors. Therefore, it is necessary to protect your ideas from possible infringements or threats from the investors or mentors. 

3. Take the help of Non-Disclosure Agreements.

Once you have a blueprint of the ideas that you are going to implement it is necessary to share the details with the party who is going to execute it. Non-Disclosure Agreements are very much in legal trend these days as it protects the confidential, proprietary, or commercial information by way of a legally enforceable agreement between the party sharing the information and the party to which the information is being shared, purposefully.

This agreement is most prevalent in startup businesses where the NDA ensures that the commercial ideas, business plans, secret agendas, entrepreneurial ideas shared by them are not disclosed by the people they are coming into agreement with. When the idea is shared with the friends, mentors, investors, or the team it should be borne in mind that the ideas shared are protected by the Non-Disclosure Agreement. 

4. Avoid uploading your ideas in an unsecured online platform.

In a world dominated by the internet and technological reforms, it is easy to get access to unsecured data through hacking. Therefore, it is recommended to refrain from uploading your documents to any unsecured online platform or share via social media. Use authentic cloud computing services to upload your documents. It is important to judge the platform, share your details, and protect the ideas at the same time. 

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5. Legal protection through Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property right (IPR) has emerged as a blessing for creative minds; it promotes innovation and ensures the protection of ideas. Now businesses are blindly relying on the IP registration of their innovation or creation. IPR gives exclusive rights to the owner to use its creation in the exclusion of the world at large. It not just protects the expression of ideas but also promotes innovation. Different types of ideas are protected under different IP laws, for instance, a poem or song is protected under the Copyright Act, whereas the logo or slogan of the production house is protected under Trademark Act. 

1. TRADEMARK

Trademark, as the name itself, suggests, protect the mark, slogan, names, logo, style, font, or any combination thereof which is associated with the product of a particular brand. It gives exclusive right to use the mark on its products for manufacturing or sale and excludes others from copying, deceiving, or passing off the products in their name. The similarity of marks, symbols, names, or slogans often confuses the customer and the issue of DECEPTIVE SIMILARITY arises. This results in blurring the image of the genuine brand; therefore, it is important to protect your ideas by way of expression in the form of a Trademark or service mark. Registration of a trademark is not mandatory but it is highly recommended to stand on a legal battlefield. 

2. COPYRIGHT

Copyright subsists in the expression of ideas and not the idea itself. The copyright protects the literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, sound recording, cinematographic, or computer software of the author. If the author wants to protect its idea or view on a particular subject, they need to bring that idea into literary form and then the protection will be granted to the literature. The idea to direct a movie cannot be given protection unless that idea is expressed in the form of cinematographic work or film.

3. PATENT

Innovation, creation of a novel substance, formula, process, designs, or procedures that are involved in the invention of certain scientific substances are protected under the Patent law. New technology or scientific formulas contain inventive steps and thus need protection from possible infringement. A patent is protected for a period of 20 years and then it falls under the public domain (free for public use).  

4. TRADE SECRET

The most widely accepted practice in IPR is the protection of trade secrets which comprises of the secret formula, recipes, a combination of spices, or any other confidential commercial information, etc. There is no law governing the legal aspects of trade secrets. Trade secrets are not registered anywhere and hence no procedural formalities are required to safeguard them. Trade secrets stay protected until it is voluntarily disclosed to the public or legally acquired by any other business or become common in the public domain. 

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BY - SOUMYA SONI