> If you want idea protection you need to look at patents. No. You can't. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/can-you-patent-an-idea https://www.legalzoom.com/

> If you want idea protection you need to look at patents. No. You can't. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/can-you-patent-an-idea https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/can-you-patent-an-idea 'A machine sucking dust from a surface in order to clean it' is an idea. Dyson design is an invention. https://www.dyson.com/vacuum-cleaners/cordless/v15/detect/yellow-iron https://www.dyson.com/vacuum-cleaners/cordless/v15/detect/ye... Here a broad description of differences between copyright and patent (trademark included): https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/difference-copyright-patent-trademark/ https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/difference-copyright-pate... None of them covers the principle of idea. And if you want an example of a dubious (in my opinion) attempt to patent an idea (patent troll): https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3811791A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3811791A1/en While is it a patent trolling attempt (in my opinion) ? Because it's basically an idea (adding a natural compound in ecigarette eliquids as sweetener) with an extensive list of layers covering general principles of everything related to ecigarette and ecigarette eliquid to pretend it's a specific formula (which is not) or an invention (which is neither because it's a natural compound known for its sweetener properties since 19th century).