An article on Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship published in Amity Innovation Incubator Newsletter in 2011

1. Article on Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship: -
Very often I come across this question “What if someone steals my idea”???. And I always try to
reason out with the concerned Entrepreneur or Innovator.
But I realize the whole issue of about ‘TRUST’; rather ‘LACK OF TRUST’ in the other person,
organisation and the system itself is the biggest spanner in the works.
And that will not change overnight so the thumb rule should be your comfort level dealing with
person on the other side of the table. Beyond agreements and paper work!!
Also follow the Science of ‘protecting your idea’ and Art of disclosing ‘What and not How of your
idea’. This will take a lot of your worries away and help you explore possibilities. Because unless you
go out and take to your Mentor, Experts, Businesses and most importantly Users your idea will not
move forward which surely is not the intention of an Ideator.
Do keep in mind that Intellectual Property laws are getting transformed in India and the offices
modernized as we speak and Courts have started taking a favourable view of the rights of an
Intellectual Property owner so protecting your idea is definitely a good starting point in most cases.
Also you can smartly overcome systemic issues For e.g. Copyright filing process in India is still very
slow and inefficient since the office is under HRD Ministry with only one office in New Delhi and it
can take upto 3 months just to get confirmation of your application (called Diary Number). Since
India is part of the Berne Convention (covering Literary & Artistic Work) covering more than 160
countries, one can make an online application (for e.g. on US Copyright website) and complete the
process in 30 minutes flat at a fee of USD 35 for basic claim in an original work of authorship and get
protection in India!!
Another smart way which I have found is used practically to prove ownership of an idea is to sign
your idea on paper and send it to yourself by Post which will come back to you with Postal
Department stamp and date which can be used as proof of ownership of idea.
Also an important piece of advice for Technology Entrepreneurs & Innovators, you can file a
Provisional Patent in the Patent Office at the cost of Rs.1000 with or without claims within a day
itself in case you are take a lot more time to get the documentation in place or make up your mind
whether you want to pursue your idea and buy yourself 12 months for filing a Complete Patent
application.
And lastly it is the message you send out to the outside world, your intention which counts more
than anything else. So imagine if you have protected your idea, have a format of Non Disclosure
Agreement (NDA), read up on interesting Intellectual Property matters in India or globally and have a
broad understanding of the market you wish to sell to; wouldn’t you get taken seriously.
Of course you would and then you will not have to worry “What if someone steals my idea” but
rather “How can others help get my idea off the ground”.
An original article created by Rajeev Surana on 29-July-2011 (E: Rajeev@scinnovation.in)
1/18, Samrat Ashok CHS, 7, R. R. Thakkar Marg, Malabar Hill, Mumbai 400006. (India)
Please acknowledge the author in case you choose to reproduce the article in part or whole.