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PS: i am naive if not zero when it comes to what it means to start or run a startup. So, please bear my question.

i am very passionate to work on some of my ideas but i am always let down by the legal issues surrounding it.

lets take this simple example -

some one calls on his/her mobile from a given place X and if i need to automatically provide a response based on the current location ( the way some of the smartphones work today - for eg: google search from andriod phone for pizza will give you the local pizzerias )

how do i know if i am violating some terms here or not ?

in general, if i want to use some concept that already exists in the market as a part of my idea how do i know if i am not violating any terms.

Thanks,

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3 Answers

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You need an overview of intellectual property law.

You may find "Top Ten Intellectual Property Mistakes of Startup Entrepreneurs" on my blog's downloads page helpful.

Disclaimer: This post does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

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Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This post does not constitute legal advice

Like Dana mentioned, you should read-up on Patent and Intellectual Property laws. The USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) has a good series of pages where you can spend hours learning about various laws and treaties.

You can also search their patent database to see if your idea has already been registered. A quick search on "mobile search" turned up these results.

Fair warning, the mobile arena is pretty cut-throat. There are a lot of big companies and deep-pocketed IP firms that will vigorously defend their IP if they feel like your idea comes close to their IP. It would be well worth the money to do a deep search of the patent database and seek out legal counsel that specializes in Intellectual Property law.

Hope this helps.

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Charan,

I am really intrigued by your question. I am an attorney and have worked in several countries and dealt with IP and other cross-border transactions for the past 15 years. I want to advise you on this issue for free.

Please be in touch via my email at sdrew@pkjlaw.com if you are interested.

Sharon

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