Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: intellectual property

It depends upon the expression of the idea. A license would apply, by way of example, to software or reprinting of a novel. Licensing can apply to anything expressed subject to a copyright or patent. Copyrightable ideas might be a book or artwork and the copyright registers the expression of that idea. A patent is protection of a useful and novel thing or an artistic design expressed in a useful thing (e.g. design patent in a building or furniture) or a method of doing something useful (e.g. software patent or business methodology patent). If you want to protect something that is strictly an idea without expression or that does not fit in the prior categories, trade secret is another option. Trade secret protection means that you limit who knows about the idea and legally limit their ability to share the information. A famous example of this kind of idea protected by keeping it secret would be the formula for Coca-Cola. Since your question was pretty general, my intent was to give you an umbrella overview of ways that people protect their ideas through the law. For specific strategies to protect your idea, you would need to explain your idea and your goals to an attorney with experience in IP (Intellectual Property).

Re: intellectual property

Do you mean you want to license something from someone else or protect an idea you have? Depending on what the idea is for and what the embodyment of that idea is you may be able to protect it with a Patent or Copyright. You should contact an Intellectual Property Attorney to determine if your idea is protectable, and then whether you could license it to others.

Re: intellectual property

Can you license an idea? Sure.

The problem is that in most cases an idea isn't protected property, and anyone, licensed or not, can copy your idea.

The better approach is to determine beforehand what kind of intellectual property the idea is, and thus what form of legal protection is or is not available.

If the idea is something that is patentable, by all means pursue getting it into "patent pending" status before trying to license it. If your idea is for a script or screenplay, write it out and copyright it.

Licensing and protecting creative or inventive work is possible in many cases, but pure undeveloped ideas are usually not protectible, because thought and inspiration are not items of commerce and there is no property right in them, at least in most cases.