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[brilliant]

I have this site called www.openpatents.net, (it's at it's begining in English, so dpn't expect many ideas) where users can share there ideas for free. The Idea is to share ideas that you knoe you won't try to make money from, so why not help the world.
my question is - if someone sees an idea he likes, and patents it, and then someone else sees the idea and makes a product without patenting it - could he say (the second guy) I got it from openpatents, I didn't copy it from the first guy?
Thanks

[Wiscagent]

Only a true inventor is entitled to a patent on an invention.  So if you got the idea somewhere else (unless you added your own inventive step) you are not entitled to a patent.

[Isaac]

Sometimes ideas fall short of being inventions.  If someone sees a posted idea suggesting generating energy from cold fusion, and manages to implement the idea in a practical, novel and non obvious way, that someone might well be able to patent at least his own implementation. 

If some second person sees the same posted idea and comes up with an infringing product the fact that second guy did not copy from the first someone will not protect him in a law suit.

[brilliant]

Thanks for your replies,
So if I understand - If I write an Idea on www.openpatents.net, and I also write down how to implement the idea, no one else could patent that idea? That doesn't seem to make sence - why patent an Idea if I can just put it down on openpatents?

[Wiscagent]

The reason for you to patent your invention is to allow you to prevent others from making, selling, or using your invention, or to charge them for the privilege.

[JimIvey]

Richard's correct.

It's a surprisingly popular misconception that all one must do to get multitudes of cash for an invention is to prove they thought of it first.  That's simply not the case.

Patents are an inducement for public disclosure of clever ideas of people who would otherwise not publicly disclose such clever ideas.  People who post on openpatents.net need no such inducement and are therefore provided no such inducement.

I'm not familiar with that site, but I suspect it's motivation and purpose are anti-patent -- what is called defensive publication.  The posts there can act as prior art preventing others from getting patents on the posted ideas.  So, you post your idea and no one can later get a patent and stop you from using your idea (provided they didn't think of it prior to your post, and you'd never know until way after the fact).

The larger consequence is that no one (including you, without a patent) can prevent anyone from using the same idea.  So, if you're hoping to base a business on your idea, prepare to compete with the heavy hitters.

Regards.

[brilliant]

so I guess using open patents is only for people who know there not going to try to make money from their ideas, and they just want to help out the world?
Even though, in a it also ruins some thing for the world, because if no one can later patent the idea - no one will make a product from it, and that way the idea is lost!

[10YearReg]

The purpose of this poster's post is to spam the link to his website.

The purpose of the website is to make money by selling click-adds from Google.  Think of the irony there.  People go the site to post ideas for free so nobody can money off of them, but, in fact, the website owner makes money off of the ideas through advertising.

I find both purposes distasteful and a waste of this board's space.

[JimIvey]

I appreciate the desire to keep these forums clean and to maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio.  In fact, I was deputized for the specific purpose of assisting in spam killing.

Having said that, I have no problem with the original post or the conversation that followed.  The topic of web-based defensive publication has come up before and I think it's perfectly appropriate to discuss what consequences there are, if any, from posting an idea on the web.  I also have no problem with links to the service.  Heck, I even post links to my site and my FAQs all the time -- but only when I think it's topical and relevant to do so.  Others post links to services that aren't their own to inform us all of patent or IP related content on the web.  Now, if posts keep popping up with the same link and suggestions that everyone tries it, I might take a different view. 

If a post is blatant self-promotion (IP related) without any other substantive contribution to the forums, I just move it to Announcements.  I have it from THE Forum Administrator that such was the intended purpose of "Announcements."  If the self- (or any-) promotion is not IP related, I remove it.  Of course, other moderators may think and act differently.

Regards.