While common knowledge dictates that you can't copyright an idea, you absolutely can copyright a product. But how on earth do you go about doing that? The good news is that while it can be tricky, it's not impossible. You just need to know where to start. Follow the tips in this article on protecting your ideas and you'll be on your way, legally speaking.

1. What does it mean to copyright an idea?

Copyrighting your ideas means you protect your idea from being stolen or used without your permission. You do this by filing a copyright application with the government. If you have a patent, you don’t need to separately register your idea to protect it.Once it's registered with the U.S. copyright office, any person or company can apply for a copyright.

If you conduct research, test variations, or generate new test variations, you are not infringing copyright and aren’t required to register or give notice in order to protect your idea. Copyright does not protect your thoughts—it protects your ideas. But sometimes, intellectual property lawyers and judges get hung up on the difference between the ideas and the products.

That said, for now, let's dive into the three big areas of concern: copyrights for ideas, products, and information.

What Does It Mean to Copyright an Idea?

Ideas are words, sentences, paragraphs, charts, diagrams, sounds, or images that are unique and can't be found anywhere else. They can be verbal, written, or drawn. Copyright is merely the legal mechanism through which you can claim ownership of your idea and control how it’s used. If you can create something new and original with your idea, then you are protected. Why? Because "original" is a protected term in the U.S. Copyright office's statutory definition. A “trademark” has a commercial use. Despite your adoring fans and frequent use of your artistic creation, incorporating your trademark into a design or otherwise reproducing it in a commercial context is a violation of U.S. copyright law. You can create one unregistered design for personal use, but if you go commercial, you will need to register it. Monetizing your creative work with advertising is also a violation of U.S. copyright law; you’ll need to be registered if you want to copyright it. The tricky part about intellectual property ideation and product development is the fact that we want to protect both our ideas and our products.

2. How to copyright an idea for a product: the basics

The first step to protecting your idea is to file a provisional patent application. A provisional patent application, also called a “Provisional Patent,” is a filing that protects your idea for one year.If you file a patent application, the next step is for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to determine if your idea is related to one already pending in the Patent & Trademark Office database. The TMO will also determine the scope of the right to protect the project. If the TMO determines that your concept is adequately described in an existing application, then the TMO will issue a standard patent to protect your idea. This means that you now have a claim to exclusive rights to your idea. The right to protect an idea is limited only by the imagination, creativity, and creativity of the creator. If you can develop a new way of thinking about a problem, there's a good chance your idea will be protected. A good way to protect your product or idea idea is to take the Idea Inventory List developed by the TMO and file your idea on the List. Warning: The sole purpose of filing your idea under the Idea Inventory List is to enshroud the idea in pending protection so that the idea will not be available for competition while your application is pending. 

Note: For full information about how to file a patent and a complete guide to protected idea building, see Patents: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Paul grads.edu. Ideas can come from anywhere. If it is new, surprising, and important, it is likely protected. For example, if you came up with a new way to communicate with your customers, something that didn’t exist before, there’s a good chance you can copyright that idea. Most forms of protection exist for ideas.

3. Copyrighting an idea: will you be able to do it yourself?

Copyrighting your idea yourself can be a daunting and confusing process.Legal scholars often discuss the nature of ideas and how they can be protected. This topic is far beyond the scope of this article, but if you're interested in learning more there are some great resources available.

What Is Encouragement?

But first, let's look at copyright's definition. According to the U.S. copyright office: Copyright is a form of protection available to all of our content creators and users. Copyright entitles a person to preventing others from using his or her original works. In order to obtain copyright, a copyrightable idea or concept must be sufficiently factual and useful in order to incite action by the public. The content may be factual, factual, written, dramatic, and musical. Copyright does not protect ideas or mathematical formulas. Copyright does not protect ideas used in bad faith.

Copyright does not allow you to prevent others from using your ideas in bad faith, it does give you certain rights once you have protected your idea. When you copyright your ideas, you are effectively licensing them. But what exactly are you licensing? When does intellectual property become more like licensing? If you think about it, intellectual property is about ordering the future order of the world. It is a contract between two parties. Thus, people often confuse intellectual property with copyright.

usufruct provides a federal framework for intellectual property. Under usufruct, the creator of a written work has certain rights. These are generally discussed in contracts. As an example of intellectual property protections, the author of The Lord of the Flies would probably have rights to control the use of his original ideas.

4. Hiring a professional to copyright your product idea

Copyrighting your product idea is crucial if you’re trying to start a business. If you’re creating a product and it’s unique, then you need to copyright it as soon as possible. Otherwise, someone else could swoop in and steal your idea.If that happens, the business or person who stole your idea could negotiate against you through a contract for ownership of the copyright. Chances are that if that happens, it’s a contract dispute that’ll cost you more than just the price of the product you just created.

Conclusion: It is possible to copyright your ideas, but you need to know how and where to start. This article will help you get started with the process so you can protect your ideas and products from theft and competition. In the US, your best option is to create a patent. A patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell your product for a certain amount of time. You can patent a product as a utility or a design patent. A design patent protects the way something looks, while a utility patent protects the way something works.