Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Copyrighting a Business Idea?

A copyright is the right to literary, artistic or other creations. Your website is copyrighted right now. You can register your copyright with the US copyright office if you like, but there is no requirement to do so (unless you plan on suing someone for infringement). The name of your company and/or products could become registered trademarks by submitting a trademark application with the trademark office (it must be approved). A trademark protects names, slogans, etc. If you are trying to protect the "idea" of your website, then you need a patent. Obtaining a patent is a very long and expensive process (usually 3 years and around several thousand dollars). When determining if you are entitled to a patent, the patent office will look to see if your invention is novel, non-obvious and useful. The useful prong is extreamily easy to overcome. The novel and non-obvious prongs are far more difficult. In short, I cannot tell you if you could get patent protection because I would need to do a patent search and learn more from you. Hope this helps. Any questions, feel free to call me at (847)845-4345. Justin Lampel