Not very bike related this I'm afraid but a few months ago at work I came up with quite a unique concept that has never been done before, that in itself is strange for such a saturated market like print. However I know it's a great idea and 'could' be the next evolution of an already bread n butter product all businesses use and buy in the 1000's daily, every supplier I've discussed my particular material requirements with have never ever heard of it before but are all falling over themselves with what a great idea it is. The problem is how can I trademark the name of it as its a descriptive variant of the already existing product? Also what about the idea, can I protect that some how? is there anybody on here who deals with things like this legally? Clearly I can't put too much on here.
I can't help but google who does trade marking and contact them. If its a cracking idea I would do that before some sone else might
Damo, you need to get a copyright on the idea, as well as trademarking the name. Speak to a commercial lawyer + maybe look at a patent as well.
Yeh I've done the google thing but before I committed to one of the many companies that offer services I figured I'd see if we had any legal bods on here for a brief chat. Never mind google it is then. I've read so much about copyright, trademarking and patenting this few days my heads in meltdown
I've never heard of google for this? But no expert... Personally I'd steer away from it as you have no idea who your speaking to. Which could be a bad move Agree with vino - you need to trademark it and also patent If it's a physical product? Go see a lawyer or specialist face to face. Better still call these http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tm.htm No doubt you've seen this though
The most important thing is you keep it to yourself until you've got some protection in place Damo. Good luck with it mate. If its that new in this business it must be bloody good. All I get thrown at me day in day out are rehashes and stuff so niche, I'll sell it once as a novelty and never again. Fingers crossed for you mate.
Steer clear of the biggest copyright theifs ever seen dude.. However, i have looked into this before with some concepts i had. There is no 1 solution as every concept and idea is different. The first thing you should do, which you can do now in 10 mins is write the concept out and supply drawings or whatever - anything you feel is worth protecting. Then send it back to yourself via a recorded delivery letter - and DONT OPEN IT. This is a VERY basic form of proof of when you had your idea. A hot shot lawyer will tear it to pieces however, it only costs £2 so it might add weight to a legal challenge. The next thing you need to do is contact a copyright and trademark lawyer. From my idea last year it costs approx £5k to trademark a name in the UK an European territories and about as much for each other territory you want to protect. The costs do vary from field to field. Oh, and to get a full PATENT can cost upto £100,000! Depends on how many people object and how long it takes. You are basically paying for lawyers to argue.
The main thing to remember is you cannot copyright an idea. As already said it has to be very specifc. The problem is that your only going to protect elements of the idea by being specific. So if its a particular manufacturing technique then that in itself can be protected. The material it creates cannot be protected because there may be another way to make it, so in theory you have to protect both the technique used to make it and the resulting product. This kind of protection only last something like 30 years, at which point anyone can copy it without you benefitting from it. All the online "copyright and idea" type companies are a rip off they steal and sell your ideas on. Anyone you talk to must sign a legal contract of disclosure and it must be witnessed !.. Its a mine field, the only people that are succesful in doing this are those that make lots of money from it and need to protect it because everyone wants a piece of the pie.
