The Self-Dispensing Toothbrush: How I Learned to Protect My Ideas

·       Ideas have little value: Legally speaking, an idea has little value. Until something is put into a concrete form, there is often little that can be done with it (note there are situations where an idea itself does have value, so speak to an attorney to better understand). It can be tempting to immediately want to jump to protecting an idea when there hasn’t actually been investment in the idea.

Throughout the course for my life, I’ve come across plenty of people with big ideas. I’m sure you’re familiar with the type- constantly concocting “get-rich-quick” schemes or extolling the virtues of the half-baked invention that is sure to be their ticket to success (it almost certainly won’t). I had a friend in college, let’s call him Sean, who became convinced that his ingenious idea for a toothbrush that dispensed its own toothpaste would provide him with a life of opulence and influence the likes of which had not been seen in America since the Great Panic of 1897 precipitated the collapse of the Gilded Age.

·       It’s the expression that matters: Given that ideas have little value on their own, it’s the execution of that idea that matters. In fact, when you are dealing with something like copyright protection, the law makes clear a distinction between an idea and the expression of an idea. For example, an expression of an idea can get copyright protection, but the idea cannot.

Unfortunately for my would-be robber baron of a friend, it turned out that his revolutionary idea had very little value of its own. Speaking from a strictly legal perspective, it’s the execution of an idea that matters. When dealing with claims of copyright or patent protection, a person’s case is much stronger if they can demonstrate that the have made a concrete investment in the idea they are hoping to protect. When trying to protect an idea, it is often best to think of the expression of your idea (as opposed to the idea itself) as your intellectual property. In other words, you are much more likely to be granted legal protection for your intellectual property if you are able to demonstrate that your idea has produced some tangible results. 

·       Ideas can turn into intellectual property: If somebody asks how to protect ideas, the best way is to think of the expression of the idea as intellectual property. Generally, there are a few flavors of intellectual property: copyright, trademark, trade secrets, patents. With most of these flavors of intellectual property, protection will be based on tangible items generated from the idea itself. It’s always important to have strategies for protecting intellectual property, once it has been created.

In the case of the self-dispensing toothbrush, it would turn out that a man named Todd Martin had done exactly that in 1997 when his detailed plans for a toothbrush that was “adapted to contain a significant quantity of toothpaste” was awarded a patent. As with most intellectual property cases, Mr. Martin was awarded a patent because he was able to do what Sean hadn’t- demonstrate tangible items (in this example plans and blueprints) that resulted directly from his original idea. After admitting defeat to Mr. Martin and his patent, Sean would move on to several additional “million-dollar” ideas (including a plan to manufacture pajama bottoms that looked like blue jeans), but by the time he graduated, the only tangible item Sean had to show for his five years (the ceaseless pursuit of innovation has its costs) of intellectual toil was a particularly regrettable tattoo on his left buttock.

·       Ideas may be protected in multiple ways: Turning an idea into a business involves many things: getting customers, building a brand, research and product development, marketing, etc. That means that your business will be composed of many different kinds of intellectual property: trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. As you may have guessed, building a business out of an idea is hard work and that work requires protection.

While to-date none of Sean’s ideas have manifest themselves into anything that could be seen as even remotely worthy of IP protection, there are plenty of legal mechanisms available to more assiduous, aspiring entrepreneurs, that can help you avoid a similar fate. Intellectual property, in the form of trademarks, copyrights, patents, or trade secrets represent the backbone of many of the world’s most successful businesses. But whether you are attempting to build the next Google, or simply want to provide a plush alternative to the world’s most popular denim pant, it is imperative that your ideas are expressed in a tangible fashion and legally protected.