Make Your Mark webchat: protecting your idea

Hello! This webchat hasn't started yet. Please post your questions below and tune in @ 1pm on Wednesday!

Hello and welcome to the Make Your Mark webchat! We have Steve here at Make Your Mark HQ, Celia is beaming in via the magic of Skype!

Hello! Looking forward to a great chat!

Before we kick off, can you tell us a bit more about yourselves?

I’m a librarian at the British Library, where I specialise in patents and business. I carry out searches and also talk to people about their ideas.

Hi, great being here. My name is Celia Gates and I am the inventor and entrepreneur behind Doctor Cook cookware. In 2004 my idea was awarded the title of British Consumer Invention of the Year and in 2007 I went on to be crowned European Female Designer of the Year. Since then I have been on a huge journey which all began when I noticed my grandmother struggling to lift a hot and heavy saucepan. Now, a seemingly simple idea has taken over my life!

Thanks for that! Now, onto our first question....

How can I get support for my business idea without giving all the details away?

Not easy, if you can explain the benefits of the idea without explaining how it works. For example, the method of making a glass that cuts the cost by 25% - you haven’t explained the method.

In addition, one thing you can do is also send details of what you thought to yourself by recorded delivery and tell the people you are meeting that you have done that as sometimes the other party will claim they have already thought of the idea, and this is proof that you certainly had.

If the idea is patentable, then filing the patent will at least mean they cannot file before you at the patent office.

Another method is using a non disclosure agreement, which is a binding agreement between parties to keep an idea secret, but sometimes the other party does not wish to sign it. Visit www.ipo.gov.uk for an example.

Getting started with a new idea is all about taking ACTION! Of course you need support, but you need to be very careful of who you choose to trust in the early days.

If you have an amazing idea, one of those ones that keeps you awake at night and you are just not sure what to do next then the first place that I would look for support is in a community of inventors. Inventor Clubs exist all around the country - check out http://www.GWIIN.com or http:www.thebis.org. I joined the East London Inventors Club and soon found answers to some of my questions here. http://www.eastlondoninventorsclub.com

One thing you must remember is do NOT tell anyone about your idea unless they have signed a CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT - this is a plain agreement between you and the person you are showing your idea to agreeing that the idea is yours and that they will not copy it. Plenty of standard agreements can be found online.

What should you do if someone has stolen your idea and turned it into a profitable venture?

You have to prove that they did steal the idea from you and you have to be willing to spend money in a court case. If you lose the case, you pay the other sides costs as well as your own. There is insurance, but it rarely goes very far in covering your costs. I wish I could come up with some happier answers!

What a question! Cry a little, panic & scream...and then calm right down and FOCUS. You need to find out as much information about your competitors as you can. You also need to be very clear about where you stand with regards to ownership of the idea. How sure are you that they are copying you? Do you own a patent or design registration that is being infringed (copied)? Have you got proof that you showed them the idea first?

This all comes down to who can PROVE that they came up with the original idea. You need to be aware of this right from the very start. Keep dates and records of absolutely everything you do - save that scrappy old envelope you scribbled on the back of, file the napkin you first scratched your idea out on and make sure you clearly date all of these pieces of "evidence" at the time.

Where can I go to improve my knowledge of Intellectual Property laws?

The British Library in London hold free work shops on patents, trademarks, designs and copyright. Visit www.bl.uk/bipc for more details of times and dates. There is also a range of information on www.ipo.gov.uk. For those out of London, local Chambers of Commerce may be able to help.

What if an employee takes your ideas and starts up their own business? Should you make them sign a contract before they start working for you?

The answer is yes and in some cases due to the nature of their work it will be assumed that the intellectual property they create belongs to the company, for example a research scientist. In addition, if you hire a freelancer they too should have a contract stating that you own the intellectual property.

This is a question for Celia. How long did it take betwenn coming up with the idea and having the finished product available to purchase. When did you patent your idea?

I secured the intellectual property on my idea shortly before I was ready to disclose it publically - this was just before the British Invention Show in 2004. I first came up with the idea in the year 2000 when my Granny suddenly developed osteo-arthritis and was finding her pans a real pain to use. Having knocked up a couple of prototypes out of broom handles and stuff I spent about 4 years thoroughly researching and understanding the ergonomics behind saucepan handling - sounds boring...I found it fascinating, and I really got to understand the market too!

Having won such a prestigious award I knew that I had to do something with my seemingly simple idea. The problem was… my competitors did their best to keep me out of the market. I had a taste of what it feels like to have your idea copied and much of my limited funds were swallowed up with legal fees. Eventually in March 2007 – having seemingly overcome a mountain my idea was available for sale in the market.

Since then it has been all systems GO - And the more people who find out about it, the more times they just can’t believe that this has never been done before! Good design makes sense after all : )

Should IP be applied to all products? I'm thinking here about drugs for the developing world...

In theory IP can apply to most products, for example a game might have a patent for how it works, a design or look of the board, and a trademark for the name of the game. However, sometimes it is not worth protecting one of these ideas. For example,Mr Kipling’s Exceedingly Good Pies™has registered designs for the appearance of leaves on the top of the fruit pies which is probably not worth the money spent.

For drugs, it is normally not worthwhile patenting in the Third World because the costs would be so high for a small market, but a trademark would be a good idea. Of course, you would have to obey the local medical regulations when selling a drug in a country.

I believe that the inventor should be rewarded for his or her idea.

The concept of I.P is to offer the person who has come up with an original idea ownership over this idea so that he or she has the exclusive right to benefit (make money) from it. Having Intellectual Property may for the very reason it protects the inventor, exclude millions of other people from benefiting from an amazing new technology or process.

This is a conundrum. The Intellectual Property system is not a perfect process – and maybe there is a better way of rewarding the inventor whilst making a new idea readily accessible to those who need it most – perhaps this should be the next Ultimate INVENTION!

Doesn't Intellectual property hold the world back from freely developing ideas?

The big companies would crush the small companies and inventors every time if intellectual property did not exist. The IP system gives a small company or inventor the chance to exploit a temporary monopoly, and often they would not try to develop the ideas in the first place without it. By publishing the patent documents the information in them is available to all and this would not exist without an IP system.

No, absolutely not. Out all of all the inventors I’ve ever met (believe me I’ve met a fair few) not one of them allows intellectual property to stunt their creative process.

That question is a bit like saying “does 3D modeling software stop us from creating organic shapes (because it’s easier to build square boxes)”. If anything the fact that an individual is allowed to claim ownership over an idea encourages more people to think outside of the box. Where would the motivation to develop new ideas be if every time you thought of one it was copied before you’d even sneezed?

Can more then one person own the rights to an idea e.g 2 friends starting a business together

The answer is yes, but it is a good idea that there is a contract between you as arguments can later occur, for example who should do what and how are the profits shared out.

Of course! Some of the best ideas are developed by teams of people and often brainstorming among friends can generate great original thoughts. Just be very clear where you all stand from the very start and make sure you all feel very comfortable about how the ownership has been divided - this is easy to sort out at the beginning but can become an absolute nightmare when the money starts rolling in. Keep things clear and in writing - no matter how close you are to your friend!

i've got lots of leftover ideas that i'm not doing anything with, and would like to offer them to people looking for ideas for free? Can i do that and if so where?

Certainly, publish it wherever you like but don’t complain if someone makes a lot of money from it!

You could do that, but I’m not sure how successful you'd be. There are ideas brokers out there - trust them at your peril. Why not take an idea forward yourself and make some money from it, instead of just giving it away for free (you can always donate the money to charity if making it is not your thing...)

Ask a few close friends which of your ideas they think is the most commercial. Weigh up for yourself what interests you the most and offers the most worthy lifetime benefits. Choose this idea and focus on developing it further. Believe me, the journey can be great fun!

Go out there and... MAKE YOUR MARK!

Great stuff! We have come to the end of the hour. Thanks for all your questions and thanks to Steve and Celia for their helpful knowledge and advice!

Take care & good luck to all you out there with brilliant ideas... just remember one thing:

ONLY DEAD FISH GO WITH THE FLOW

It's been great chatting with you - Bye x

Goodbye!

Look out for Celia and Steve's top IP tips coming soon on this website. in the meantime, why not have your say in our forum? http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/forum/make_your_mark_forum Ta ra!