In your answer to this question you should explain what your overall strategy is for protecting your idea. This should cover both current and future plans and should also include the development of further ideas and how you intend to protect them. We would also like you to provide us with an idea of what the likely overall costs will be for intellectual property protection, not just for the NESTA funded phase. If you do not intend to seek specific IP protection please explain why in this question.
All the project team, even adhoc advisors, have to sign a non-disclosure agreement acknowledging their involvement in the project, prior to being given access to materials. During the funded phase, contracted team members will have to assign rights to the company for any materials produced while working on this project.
Technology IP will be protected via copyright and confidentiality agreements principally at this stage. Four domain names have already been registered. Subject to the initial draft of the product design document, trademarks will be registered based on GROOVER, SWITCH and FEEDER.
Software patents are, at present, not considered the most viable form of protection for this idea given the requisite costs and the social dimension of the project which concerns wider sharing. Various legal advisors will be monitoring the project and this position may change based on the outcome of the development phase. Traditionally game developers have not patented technology and game publishers often take the view that "ideas are cheap, development is expensive".
The project will carry out "defensive publication" of the technology to avoid someone else patenting the idea. Websites and key industry publications (like SIGGRAPH proceedings) will be used defensively as a place to publish research in order to make it "prior art". The principle revenue stream will come from copyrighted assets but this tactic will protect against the possibility that someone else subsequently and independently patents the relevant material. It provides a defence to patent infringement but does make the research available for use by competitors. This is part of the social dimension of the project.
It will be at the company's later discretion as to what modules of the eventual console software (excluding whatever engine is licensed) will be released as open source code to support wider take-up. The remainder of the code base will be a key asset.
The company will allow unprecedented access to film assets in order to maximise public exposure to the business model in order to encourage take-up of assets for commercial use (under license for further interactive development and with clearance fees for broadcast and synch rights).
The company will initiate legal proceedings to sue flagrant breaches of copyright and abuse of moral rights.
Once funding is in place, network security around the extranet system for the project ("the headbin") will be upgraded as appropriate to its capital value.
Posted by .M. at October 17, 2003 02:21 PM