-
Welcome to our legal community! Click here or the create new topic button to ask a question and receive answers and comments from our friendly and helpful legal community.
Articles that answer frequent legal questions are in our Law Guide. Important legal news is reported in The Law JournalYou can find a lawyer near you in the Lawyer Directory. If you know that you need to hire an attorney, you can submit a case review from a lawyer.
Copyright Can I copyright an iphone app idea?
- Thread Starter socker1
- Start date
- Status
army judge
Super Moderator
You could copyright it or trademark.
That can be expensive and take time.
If you place a value on your idea, you could also sell it.
To do that, you might have to "open your kimono".
The longer you wait, permits another competitor to get to market with your idea.
I just read on a copyright basics document that Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a
description, explanation, or illustration are not covered by a copyright. My idea is just that at this time, an idea and a method. This sounds more like a patent prospect. Anyone have any ideas? I had contacted a programmer that writes apps. He wanted me to tell him more about my idea, but I am afraid he may steal it.
Read more at copyright dot gov slash circs slash circ1 dot pdf
description, explanation, or illustration are not covered by a copyright. My idea is just that at this time, an idea and a method. This sounds more like a patent prospect. Anyone have any ideas? I had contacted a programmer that writes apps. He wanted me to tell him more about my idea, but I am afraid he may steal it.
Read more at copyright dot gov slash circs slash circ1 dot pdf
1) File a provisional patent if this is a process. You have a copyright in your code when it is created although good to file for one as well.
2) Make sure that you have the programmer sign (a) a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement before you discuss it with him or her, and (b) should you agree to work together, a work for hire agreement that states that all the work is owned by and belongs to you.
If it's that good of an idea that could be patentable, a trip to a patent attorney may be a good idea.
Before you pay anyone anything..
Before you pay anyone anything, I would gather some info on how much it is going to cost to develop and how much return you expect. You may also want to look at Apple's process for determining if an app is acceptable and how much of a cut they take from it. Also, many times "ideas" don't effectively translate into code. The process of determining this itself can also be costly.
Also, I even if you have the programmer sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement and you agree to work together or have a work for hire agreement that states that all the work is owned by and belongs to you, what happens if he bails out and then comes up with some distinct work that effectively subverts your idea. It is a fast-moving and rather relentless market. That you should attempt to protect your iP is a given. But if your IP protection and the chance that the IP may not be relevant in a fast-moving market in short time, with the whole endeavor costing you more than your return, then that is also a consideration.
I have been told that if your idea is really, really, really good, you might consider pitching it to a venture capitalist of some form, letting them back it or take it and you sit back and get whatever you were able to negotiate from it.
Good luck, and hope you find success in the endeavor.
Before you pay anyone anything, I would gather some info on how much it is going to cost to develop and how much return you expect. You may also want to look at Apple's process for determining if an app is acceptable and how much of a cut they take from it. Also, many times "ideas" don't effectively translate into code. The process of determining this itself can also be costly.
Also, I even if you have the programmer sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement and you agree to work together or have a work for hire agreement that states that all the work is owned by and belongs to you, what happens if he bails out and then comes up with some distinct work that effectively subverts your idea. It is a fast-moving and rather relentless market. That you should attempt to protect your iP is a given. But if your IP protection and the chance that the IP may not be relevant in a fast-moving market in short time, with the whole endeavor costing you more than your return, then that is also a consideration.
I have been told that if your idea is really, really, really good, you might consider pitching it to a venture capitalist of some form, letting them back it or take it and you sit back and get whatever you were able to negotiate from it.
Good luck, and hope you find success in the endeavor.
1needyfish
New Member
I have the same concerns as the above poster in regards how to keep someone from stealing my android/iPhone idea. I've actually written my app out from start to finish (in English), spoke to a person here, a person there, at a couple of different apple stores so as not to give away to much and am convinced that my app is doable, but how do I protect it??? I like the idea of pitching it to a venture capitalist, but again how can keep them from stealing it too?
You can't copyright an idea only the expression of the idea.
Source(s):
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-pr…
Source(s):
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-pr…
- Status
Share this page
