Traditionally, protecting an idea has involved securing one of the traditional forms of government-protected IP–patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. The processes for obtaining these types of IP, however, were created in a world that looked much different than the one inventors and businesses currently inhabit–where technology meant pistons and smoke, not qubits and clouds. With the speed of innovation vastly outpacing the ability of this old IP system to keep up, innovators often find themselves in limbo, unsure as to whether their most valuable assets are truly protected or if their investments are just one cease-and-desist letter or court ruling away from vanishing into thin air. IdeaBlock provides a new form of security for your ideas: proof that you possessed an idea and a verifiable record of when it was available to the public. Verifiable prior art insurance for the 21st century.
A blockchain is a distributed ledger agreed upon by the participant nodes that make up a decentralized computer network. Every node on this network has a copy of the transaction ledger, which leverages strong cryptographic hashes to prove the validity of the data associated with each transaction on the ledger. In addition to storing data associated with transactions on the ledger, blockchains can be used to store any information at all, including cryptographic hashes that mathematically prove the existence or presence of some data or event. The numbers underpinning cryptographic hashes–including SHA3-256, which is the hash algorithm utilized by IdeaBlock–are so big and the chances of the same hash representing two separate files are so small that the authenticity of idea data and its upload timestamp (and any updates) can be mathematically proven. This math underlying cryptography, as well as the ultimately limited processing power in the known universe, ensures that these blockchains cannot be forged or altered by bad actors, rendering the truth of any data that is validated on the blockchain unassailable and mathematically provable.
Although IdeaBlock relies on the blockchain infrastructure underlying the most well-known cryptocurrencies, the price or price volatility of any of these cryptocurrencies has no effect on the robust idea protection IdeaBlock provides. The decentralized networks that drive Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin will maintain those blockchains long after our lifetimes–which means your Idea protection will outlive us, as well.
The holder of a valid U.S. patent can enforce their patent offensively by suing others that infringe their patent claims. Although an IdeaBlock idea cannot be used to initiate an infringement suit, anyone can utilize an IdeaBlock idea to nullify any later-filed U.S. patent that is asserted against them or any third party.
Yes, in 2012 and 2013 the United States adopted patent filing rules that gave legal priority to the earliest application filed on any new idea. The "race to the patent office," however, has no bearing on the form of IP protection IdeaBlock provides. Unlike the offensive right given to patent-holders to patrol any relevant market for patent infringers, IdeaBlock provides defensive tools to its users–namely, a way to ensure that, even if the user does not seek to obtain traditional forms of IP to protect an idea, no other individual or entity will be able to obtain a patent that could be used in the future to block the user from developing the idea and eventually taking the idea to market. This is because no one can obtain or legally enforce a wrongly issued patent when (1) the idea was conceived of by another inventor before the corresponding patent application was filed and (2) the idea was made available to the public prior to the filing of that application. Until now, no similar means for inventors and businesses to instantly create unassailable prior art has existed. So, to the best of our knowledge, not only does IdeaBlock offer the first-ever service for undeniably establishing prior art, it does so instantly–.
We know–it seems counterintuitive at first, doesn't it? But consider this: the only form of IP that does NOT require full disclosure of the underlying idea as a prerequisite for protection is a trade secret (we can help you with protecting those too, just ask!). In other words, full public disclosure of the underlying idea will be compulsory for any inventor who wishes to obtain most traditional forms of IP protection. And not only is full disclosure ultimately obligatory, under the first-to-file system, those who delay verifiable public disclosure, through IdeaBlock or otherwise, risk another individual or entity filing for IP protection first–which would foreclose any chance for the earlier inventor to obtain IP protection for their idea. If it helps to ease any remaining uneasiness, know that IdeaBlock does not publish or otherwise disclose the identity of the user or business entity that uploaded the idea by default. Feel free to reach out via our official channels or to send us a message (see below)–we would love to discuss the true benefits associated with public disclosure with you in more detail!