I closed my webside after a year, and I did not have a copy right but I have prove that I was the first person with this product and idea, is it true that only the orriginal inventor can have a copyright or patent on an idea, is there anything I can do about it?
2007-06-10 04:38:31 · 5 answers · asked by greetings 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
You can do nothing.
Unless you can prove the founder or owner of the other website can to your site and copied it from you, But even if you could prove he was on you site all he and i guarantee his lawyers will say he was doing competitor research.
If you had been doing this for years then you may have something but fact is you did not copyright anything. If he plagiarized your content and you had a disclaimer posted the most you could do is get the content off Possibly if you get an awesome lawyer you with a very small chance get a pay check.
If you came up with this awesome Idea that people copied do it again but learn from your mistakes and get a lawyer.
2007-06-10 04:49:51 · answer #1 · answered by Joshua S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would advise speaking to a local copyright lawyer about this issue. They will usually offer the first interview for free and will be able to discuss appropriate courses of action.
Also you need to distinguish between patents and copyright.
Copyright is granted for literary, artistic and other works which are the product of your own intelligence e.g. a movie or a book. There may very well be copyright in the actual content of your webpages and a breach may be at hand depending on the jurisdiction your in.
In loose terms, patents are granted for inventions and once granted the patent allows the inventor or his assignees to exploit the invention for a certain period. I am not certain for your jurisdiction but in Australia at least only the inventor of the idea can have a patent. This does not mean that the second person cannot claim they they too invented it (as opposed to copying it). You may wish to inquire in the interim whether the other party has patented the idea.
I would strongly suggest you see a lawyer familiar in this field in your jurisdiction as they would be best informed to advise you how to proceed.
2007-06-10 11:59:26 · answer #2 · answered by illuzn 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. If your idea wasn't protected, you have no rights to sue.
You don't have to be the original inventor to get a patent or copyright, just be the first to file the application.
2007-06-10 11:45:02 · answer #3 · answered by hottotrot1_usa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Too late, punt. If you had a patent from ten years ago, you might be able to do something. History is full of this sort of thing: Two independent people develop the same idea.
2007-06-10 11:47:16 · answer #4 · answered by Michael B 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
kick there ***
2007-06-10 11:46:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋