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Publicly declaring an idea starts the clock ticking on patents in the US. You have 1 year to file. International patents are worse: in public at all == immedia

Publicly declaring an idea starts the clock ticking on patents in the US. You have 1 year to file. International patents are worse: in public at all == immediately no patent. For that reason alone, this is a bad idea. People opting in might have no idea they can't get a patent by making it open. People should just start a blog about their idea if they want it public

shawndrost 19y ago
"Publicly declaring an idea starts the clock ticking on patents" -- Only if the disclosed information is patentable. Few applications will describe ideas in patentable detail. In any case, if the system is opt-in, it is isomorphic to general web publishing: why stop people from being stupid here when they can be stupid anywhere? "People should just start a blog about their idea if they want it public" -- blogs aren't centralized. Foundling YC-like orgs can't access them in any scalable way.
- anamax 19y ago
  > Few applications will describe ideas in patentable detail. However, many applications will describe patentable ideas with enough detail to enable litigation. The goal isn't to win the lawsuit, it is to avoid the lawsuit.
johnrob 19y ago
Your comment makes sense to me. However, it also contradicts the notion that ideas are pretty much worthless (it's all about the execution). Are they really worthless, or are we just saying they are worthless?
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  Implementation will make or break a company, certainly. But if you have no lock at all on your IP, you won't be able to get VCs to get interested as easily. They care about things like that. Why make it harder to get VCs interested? Note that "ideas are worthless" is usually brought up in context of private discussion, not public disclosure. Private discussions don't start the clock ticking. They DO affect trade secrets, as far as I know. If you tell someone your secret sauce, and they aren't under NDA, then your claim to a secret is lessened. I am not a lawyer.

shawndrost 19y ago

"Publicly declaring an idea starts the clock ticking on patents" -- Only if the disclosed information is patentable. Few applications will describe ideas in patentable detail. In any case, if the system is opt-in, it is isomorphic to general web publishing: why stop people from being stupid here when they can be stupid anywhere? "People should just start a blog about their idea if they want it public" -- blogs aren't centralized. Foundling YC-like orgs can't access them in any scalable way.

anamax 19y ago
> Few applications will describe ideas in patentable detail. However, many applications will describe patentable ideas with enough detail to enable litigation. The goal isn't to win the lawsuit, it is to avoid the lawsuit.

johnrob 19y ago

Your comment makes sense to me. However, it also contradicts the notion that ideas are pretty much worthless (it's all about the execution). Are they really worthless, or are we just saying they are worthless?

ivankirigin 19y ago
Implementation will make or break a company, certainly. But if you have no lock at all on your IP, you won't be able to get VCs to get interested as easily. They care about things like that. Why make it harder to get VCs interested? Note that "ideas are worthless" is usually brought up in context of private discussion, not public disclosure. Private discussions don't start the clock ticking. They DO affect trade secrets, as far as I know. If you tell someone your secret sauce, and they aren't under NDA, then your claim to a secret is lessened. I am not a lawyer.