can i go have an idea for a tv show patented at the intellectual property office?

Question

how can i protect my ideas properly?
how detailed must i be? mechanics? length? frequency?
Can a similar show without a patent (for a very similar idea) get away with a minor difference in the format?

Answer 1

To the best of my knowledge, one cannot get an idea copyrighted or patented. For a copyright, it must be expressed in a communicable manner (writing, music, pictorial, etc.). For a patent, it must have a model or, if that is impossible, then a description sufficiently detailed to enable a reviewer to discern how it is unique and different from any other idea of the same kind. There is the U.S. Patent Office in Washington and the Library of Congress, which handles copyright; information about applications can be found on the Internet. There is no "intellectual property office" as far as I am aware. "Intellectual property" is merely a term that refers to copyrightable matter rather than to physical objects.

Answer 2

You cannot patent an "idea". You cannot copyright an "idea" either. You can patent an object, a method, a recipe or a formula, but not an idea for a television show. That would not fall under patent law. Television show scripts however are copyrightable. If you write a script, you may send a copy of it to the US copyright office with $30 and they will register your copyright.

However, copyright is inherent. This means that you do not need to REGISTER the copyright in order for you to OWN the copyright. You own the copyright the moment a work is created.
All the copyright office does is REGISTER your copyright so there will never be any question that you created the work.

You cannot copyright a title. You cannot copyright an idea--it must be a complete work, either written on paper, recorded on tape or disc, or on some reproduceable media such as a computer disk, or in other tangible form (i.e, a musical score.)

For further info, go to the US Copyright website. (link below)

Remember: just because you have registered a copyright, this does not prevent someone else from stealing your plot, dialogue, or ideas. There is nothing that prevents that. If you register your work, however, you have a better chance to win if you sue someone who steals it. It is harder to prove authorship when a copyright has not been registered.

Answer 3

yes, but i bet it needs to be very detailed. if you got the money, you can patent about anything you want. :)

Answer 4

Laurence nailed it, but I'll add that trade marks and registered names/logos are another form of IP protection.
--
TAZ