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View Full Version : Can concepts be protected so they can be auctioned?


pauljkwa
23-02-08, 11:28 AM
Good Morning Everyone!

No point trying to sleep anymore. Ideas running rampant through my brain. Similar to the way comanies such as Endemol have licenced concepts such as "Big Brother" and "Idol", how do you go about protecting a concept for a website?
Or am I dreaming? Is the presence of so many "Facebook" clones out there proof that it's not possible or that the principle of "get it out there, corner the market and crush any competition" is the prevailing attitude?
I'm sure if someone made a reality show called "Big Sister", along the same lines, that Endemol would take them to the cleaners!
Why would the two media be approached so differently? This can't be something that has simply been overlooked.
Anyway, I have at least three mega concepts that all have unlimited monetization potential on many different levels. Like an inventor of a "physical" product, I wish to sell the "licences" to a development company/ies for $x + y% royalties. Why not implement myself? My thing is creativity, the whole construction/business side boggles my brain so much I would never sleep again!
It seems the way of the www is that you get an idea and if your not a developer and have no tech ability you offer equity to a developer in return for their services. I want to approach from the other end. I have no desire to wield control over the thing, I just want to see it fly!
Therefore, I sell 95% to the highest bidder (the higher the price, the more quickly they will need to see a return on investment) and keep a small % for perpetuity.
Does anyone think there is a way to protect so I can safely publish the ideas so prospects can view the concepts on mass? Like seeing a picture of the car, boat etc. before you place a bid? Or will I have to go through the rigour of luring prospectives blindly then going through the whole non disclosure agreement thing before the concept can even be presented?
From an investors POV this must be a P in the A because there must be millions of incredible claims out there to get lost amongst.
Here's one for the Public Domain for free. Why doesn't someone create a site where creative types can list their ideas in separate "locked boxes" like safety deposit boxes in a vault. Prospectives can become a member of the site and sign a binding contract of non disclosure for access to all the ideas at once. A pool of collected funds can be put in trust to defend any legal claims that may arise from misuse of the service. These funds may come from membership/listing fees as well as maybe a percentage of any sale that results. If any of you run with this, remember me fondly, cash works for me!
Please have a good think and post a quick reply. Delayed brainstorming through forums rather than face to face is painfully slow for me.
Love to you all,
Paul.

Brendan
25-02-08, 11:29 PM
Like you said, you can't really a protect an 'idea', companies like Endemol don't protect their ideas they just have big pockets to be able to prove the idea was theirs and theirs only, which is why people don't really take them on.

The only thing I think you can do to cover yourself, is make sure you document everything about your idea, date it each time there is something new make sure that you are the one that is in control of everything that happens to your idea. If things need to be patented, then go ahead submit a patent... even if its patent pending it is protected to an extent.

Also, have an NDA written up by a Solicitor, sure it may be a bit of pain to start with, but the saying goes, 'Short term pain, long term gain' so it should cover you and would be good to have at hand when speaking to investors, not only will this help protect you, but it shows your serious and professional.

If you have documentation of your idea, that shows complete organic creativity, if someone does steal your idea you then have a good paper trail to take them to court and shut them down, if it is someone who stole it off you that signed your NDA.. well that should hold up in court.

As for finding a developer, there are sites like rentacoder that do allow jobs to be submitted via NDA's and developers can actually agree to NDA's in order to look at your idea, I have had a few people use this method with great success.

You might also want to look into an internet consultant to help drive you in the right direction and get you off the ground. - Let me know if you need any contacts I can PM them to you.

Good luck, I like your enthusiasm and drive, thats a great ingredient for any Entrepreneur.

pauljkwa
26-02-08, 12:15 AM
Hey Brendan,
Thanks for the feedback. I've been doing some research and an article (actually an E-book) that might benefit everybody is available if you google - "how to protect and benefit from your ideas", the ref is shorter than the URL.
From it I have gleened that Endemol probably sold an Exclusive Licence to one network in each country, see chapter 5.04, in fact that whole chapter is very relevant.
Contacts for a consultant would be appreciated, finding my own (apart from members of AussieTycoon) is fraught with danger as Wolves tend to hide behind flashy websites these days! How do the PM's work? I haven't seen a button.
Got another question as well about dodgy hosting services from the US but that's a whole new thread. I'll post it now.
Cheers, Paul.

Brendan
26-02-08, 07:28 PM
Paul,

Thats great thanks for the info, I will download that ebook now :)

In regards to PM (Private Messages) - they can be accessed from the top right, just under this text

Welcome, Brendan.
You last visited: Yesterday at 12:39 PM
Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 16.

If you click the 'Private Messages' text, it will take you to your private messages.

I have sent you one :)

J_D
05-05-08, 05:32 PM
Paul,

Great thread! I'd also like to see a good Investors / Angel Investors website go up that doesn't require you to pay x amount of dollars just to gain access to upload your business plan. There are only a few out there and most quite dodgy.

JD

pauljkwa
06-05-08, 01:20 AM
Anyone from Australia who has an idea for an invention should check out The Triton Foundation (http://www.tritonfoundation.org.au/)
It costs for non Queenslanders, but have a read, it sounds great.

Brendan
06-05-08, 08:54 PM
or, if you have an idea for an invention, maybe you can join the 'American Idol' for inventors!

American Inventor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Inventor)

I watched the first season over here, its basically formulated exactly the same as American Idol - heck even Simon Cowell is one of the producers!

It's not to bad a show, basically thousands of inventors pitch in front of judges, such as Peter Jones and George Foreman with their inventions, they then get funding from the show to compete in a final competition..

Its quite a good show if you are into that sort of thing.. you might want to see if you can download it somewhere or even buy it off abc.com

Slade
12-05-08, 09:28 PM
I did download the american inventor series a while back.. a little bit weird to be honest.. good concept, but those inventor types are certainly a unique bunch of characters!