Benjamin is right: it's a LOT of money. Keep in mind that if you have a idea/product that you DO intend to patent, if you release an unpatented product to the public or simply publicize the idea you GIVE UP any rights to patent it in the future.
IOW, the decision whether to patent or not must be made BEFORE the idea becomes public. Once you have applied, you have a bit more protection; once the patent is granted you have the most protection. For what that's worth. This (along with, among a multitude of other things, a clarification of the meaning of 'trademark', 'copyright' and 'patent') is all made very clear on the US Patent Office website: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics.jsp Kind Regards, David Reaves On Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:18 am ((PST)) "Benjamin Ragheb" wrote: > > On Jan 25, 2010, at 12:28 AM, anderson oliveira wrote: > >> My question is. Can you patent software ideas? What is the safe way >> to do this? Trademark? Copyright? > > First: I Am Not A Lawyer. > > Yes, you can patent a software idea, but it is expensive. You will > need to hire a lawyer to prepare and file all the paperwork. It's > not worth the money/time if you are indie.
