Questions regarding all matters related to ownership and rights to intangible assets such as art, software, designs, etc.
306
votes
27answers
138k views
If I'm working at a company, do they have intellectual property rights to the stuff I do in my spare time?
I was interviewed by a lady from Zynga and she told me that Zynga doesn't allow developers to have side projects. Is this true for companies in general, or just a minority that Zynga is a part of? ...
37
votes
11answers
5k views
What if Google+ stole my idea? Can I do anything about it? Should I?
From around March 2009 to October 2009, my sister and I built a website and dubbed it our "first startup": Jumpino.com. Truthfully, it was hardly a startup: we had no capital, no way of monetizing, ...
19
votes
6answers
989 views
Teammates have pushed me out of our venture. What to do now?
I along with 3 other people created a concept for an innovative Ecommerce platform as part of a 5 week startup pre-incubator. We had a great run and on demo day we won the audience and panel of ...
15
votes
7answers
2k views
Is it worth it to register a trademark for a software product that I am developing?
I am working on a new software product, it is a web-based contact manager and I would like to know if I should register the name as a trademark? is it worth it? and if so, should I do it myself or ...
12
votes
7answers
19k views
Can I use the logos of other companies on my site?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can I use the logos of other services and companies on my site? Ie, if I wanted to put up a graphic of some services that relate to local internet marketing, ...
12
votes
1answer
335 views
There's a troll in my space - now what?
I've spent the last 3 months full-time building an alpha version of a web app, and developing a business plan for it. The alpha version is ready to launch. Recently I've stumbled upon the fact that ...
10
votes
3answers
285 views
How should a startup deal with existing, ambiguous patents?
I've been thinking about a new idea I want to work on. After searching the USPTO, I found that there are many (hundreds) of patents around what I am wanting to work on, with a slew being very similar ...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
If I pitch my idea to a company, what are my rights?
I recently came up with what I believe is a great idea which builds on a specific technology already existing in the marketplace. I believe it represents a completely new use for the technology and ...
8
votes
3answers
391 views
Somebody got a trademark for a domain I own. I am planning to launch my service in a week
I have a domain name, (lets call it XYZ.com) which I have owned for about an year and a related service that I have been developing for about an year too. I just searched the trademark database, and ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
To what extent are algorithms patentable, especially in the US and Europe?
I'd like to use an algorithm that has been published. It's not a must have for me, but would be convenient. The creator might be difficult to contact, but that's obviously not a reason to do the ...
7
votes
10answers
3k views
How do you protect the key features of your product without a patent?
I'm working on improving an old web based product but afraid that my idea will be copied by the bigger players. For example, let's say I build an improved a web-based task management software but ...
7
votes
6answers
340 views
Sticky IP situation
We are in a sticky situation, that is no ones fault but our own. We had approached a developer to join our startup. After showing him the project he was excited and decided to join. Our mistake was ...
7
votes
2answers
449 views
Intellectual Property Suicide Pill
I'm planning a new software company that will license software to businesses. A lot of R&D will be needed to create the software and indeed, our codebase will be our biggest asset. Unfortunately ...
7
votes
5answers
640 views
How do you protect your code from a freelancer?
I want to hire a freelancer to fix some bugs on my startup code. How can I protect the code from being stolen?
Thanks
7
votes
2answers
286 views
Are patents worth investing in?
We have got patents for specific technologies in the past, they cost a lot and the value was not really visable.
We often develop specific algorithms for real-time systems and work with a range of ...
7
votes
2answers
307 views
When looking for a technical co-founder, how to protect IP?
I understand the process of looking for a technical co-founder may involve interviewing several people, some of which won't be a good fit, or won't have the right credentials or life situation, etc. ...
6
votes
5answers
596 views
Should I give away my idea to an incubator program?
I'm considering applying my site, currently early in development, to YCombinator. Do I risk having my idea stolen by going through with the application process? They're asking very specific questions ...
6
votes
4answers
276 views
If I write code with someone just together, are they entitled to equity in my startup?
If a friend casually wanted to hack with me and we wrote something that took off, are they entitled to equity in my company?
6
votes
8answers
2k views
Does my employer really own my new idea?
I am currently employed as a director of a UK-based software development company, but am considering setting up a new company for an idea that I conceived recently. My idea is software-based but for a ...
6
votes
5answers
399 views
Startup project - hide from employer or cooperate with him?
I am a software developer. I have a good idea and I'd like to create a startup. I am planning to invite one or two of my colleagues as co-founders.
I am concerned about the relationships with my ...
6
votes
1answer
263 views
Our client wants ownership of the code + no competition clause, but we need to re-sell this program in order to make money. How do we compromise?
TL;DR: "A client contracts us to build the engine for Warcraft I, does client have right to stop us using the same engine for let's say.... Skyrim?" (No contracts have been signed YET)
Actual ...
6
votes
5answers
590 views
Trademarks: do I need to register them in every country?
We are selling a product internationally through our e-commerce based in Hong Kong and were wondering if our Hong Kong trademarks have any legal power in other jurisdictions.
If not, do we really ...
5
votes
4answers
605 views
How Do I Prevent Somone From Stealing My Idea On KickStart
I have a great idea for a new product and I am thinking about launching it on Kickstarter, but I have one major problem. I am afraid that someone will steal my product and/or accuse me of stealing ...
5
votes
6answers
718 views
How should I leave a startup. I own all their source code
I asked a question recently here, discussing options for what to do in my current situation.
The other co-founders let me know they no longer think I deserve 20%, and I decided it was the last straw, ...
5
votes
7answers
201 views
New startup advice
I work for a church here in California as a gfx designer. 8 months ago I had an idea for a web service we could use at the church I work at. I spoke to my pastor (boss) about the idea and he said ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
How long would my previous employer have to sue me, claiming intellectual property rights on an iPhone app I wrote?
I was reading this thread -
If I'm working at a company, do they
have intellectual property rights to
the stuff I do in my spare time?
It has some great answers to a question I felt ...
5
votes
3answers
512 views
Intellectual Property (Source Code) Held in Escrow
I work for a start-up company who has a client requesting that we place the source code for our SaaS (software-as-a-service) application in escrow. They're concerned that, as a start-up, the company ...
4
votes
1answer
213 views
Should I get investors to sign an NDA before sharing my idea?
I have an idea for a company and I want to share it with potential investors. I'm a bit concerned about my ability to protect the idea. Should I get them to sign an NDA? Would that scare investors ...
4
votes
5answers
346 views
How do you discourage piracy of your software or IP?
We're reviewing/exploring anti-piracy measures for a new software product. There is a desktop and a web component. What tactics are you using to prevent/discourage piracy of your software and IP?
4
votes
2answers
291 views
How long should you keep your idea a secret?
I am a graduating senior in college studying computer science and machine learning. For the past year, I have been working with two other people on what we think is a pretty fantastic idea, offering a ...
4
votes
2answers
552 views
How to protect yourself against the unethical business practices of a competitor like Nuance Communications?
I plan on working in the pattern recognition software industry. Some research into this industry led me to read about a company called “Nuance Communication.” According to this techcrunch article, ...
4
votes
2answers
178 views
Copyright/IP of sudokus
I have recently learned how to do constraint processing and I figured out how to generate sudoku puzzles. I thought it would be interesting/fun to create an interactive website for these puzzles. I ...
4
votes
3answers
168 views
How Much should I except to spend registering Intellectual Property patent?
I know it might vary depending of kind of product.
I'm planning to register a very unique Intellectual Property internet service patent
Let's suppose the world doesn't have search engine yet, and I ...
4
votes
4answers
3k views
Joint Software Development Agreement – how to set up IP ownership?
I’ll be entering into a joint development software project with 2 other companies. I’m considering how best to deal with the intellectual property ownership.
I suppose one company could be the ...
4
votes
3answers
271 views
How do you prove a computer-generated work was independently generated by you?
This question is related to one of my earlier posts about the ability to copyright sudokus. I have written a program that generates sudokus and I want to make a website with these sudokus. It seems ...
4
votes
2answers
104 views
How do I prove that its all my IP
I'm involved in a deal where an industry organization is attempting to white label my software. Their Chairperson is a lawyer, so they are cautious on the legal stuff. They want to be absolutely sure ...
4
votes
4answers
217 views
Start-up IP dispute in Canadian Corp
I'm currently in an intellectual property dispute over software I developed in a new start-up (Canadian corp). It was written under the false pretense that I would have 25% ownership of the company, ...
4
votes
2answers
186 views
Employee who contracted programmer to complete project. Who owns intellectual property?
I was hired as an employee to integrate data which initially no projects existed that required programming. It became clear that the method needed to complete one project was going to require some ...
4
votes
1answer
155 views
Using a closed company's IP
Over ten years ago I worked at a startup company that no longer exists today. Recently I found some of courses we developed on a CD Rom. They were copied by another employee who gave them to me ...
4
votes
2answers
112 views
Should I transfer the intellectual property of a product to get investors?
I've been working on a new software that could do a nice work on the current market, and I'm trying to get investors to be able to work full time on this project and deliver before the other companies ...
4
votes
1answer
344 views
How does a joint venture share intellectual property?
There are two companies A, and B, that wish to establish company C.
A is a startup software company that gets 60% in C.
B is a profitable hardware company and gets 40% in C.
This allocation ...
4
votes
6answers
527 views
A question about selecting the right co-founder
7 months ago I thought of a great idea for a website. I enrolled in an intro to entrepreneur class at school and I created a business plan with financial statements. I have been working with a ...
4
votes
3answers
198 views
If you are a creative studio, who owns employees ideas that they come up with whilst in your employ?
We are a creative studio who depend on new ideas and new IP to survive. Many of our staff (naturally) are quite creative as well, and as such don't want their best ideas taken by the studio - where ...
3
votes
6answers
292 views
Former partner is illegally using my IP
I've noticed a former potential partner of mine is using a logo, website design, and company description/mission that I created and retain full ownership of.
Should I just send a simple email ...
3
votes
3answers
362 views
Creative solution for copyright infringement by UK university
This question is sort of a follow up to:
Creating non-profit startup from open-source software project
Selling using the honor system
Basically, I'm selling software on the honor system for $5 to ...
3
votes
3answers
324 views
book name as Tag line for my website — intellectual property issues
I am planning to use the name of a book (about 3-4 yrs old) as the tag line of my website.
Its three words long.
What are the IP issues here, how do i know if i can use it legally or if the author ...
3
votes
3answers
219 views
Is consulting work subject to my day-job's intellectual-property clause?
Disclaimer: I'm not seeking legal advice here, I will naturally seek actual legal advice before I make any decisions. I'd just like to know the lay of the land, if anyone can help.
I'm in the ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views
Acquiring IP from liquidators
Over 3 years ago the development company I was working for went into liquidation owing ~$500K.
There wasn't a lot gained from the sale of the assets and as far as I am aware, the liquidators still ...
3
votes
1answer
472 views
Once my trademark has been registered, how often do I need to pay a fee/check in on it?
I can't seem to get a straight answer when I call the USPTO
3
votes
4answers
227 views
Partnership Gone Bad
For the past 6 months or so I have been working on a project with 2 partners. Here's the breakdown:
Partner 1: Finance, marketing, sales, legal
Partner 2: Product dev, design, branding
Me: Tech, ...
