How do I protect my intellectual property rights for my unregistered
software design, in the United Kingdom. In particular, what should I
state in a letter to the person who has threatened to use my software
design? I have given this person a copy of my design, to see if we
could work together on it. We have agreed that we will not work
together on it, and I have never in any way authorised him to use it.

I'm afraid that - very unusually for easterangel - this is completely
wrong.

If you already have program code in being, copyright will
automatically exist in that code.  You will yourself be the owner of
that copyright provided you have done the coding yourself (and were
not at the time working for an employer). Nobody is allowed to re-use
or to copy that code in the UK (even with small modifications) without
your consent.  Note, however, that copyright in the code protects you
only against copying of the code itself: it does not protect you
against copying of any underlying concepts, algorithms or program
logic.

If you do not yet have any code - for example if you have only a
concept, a series of flowcharts or the like - you will have copyright,
under the same conditions as above, only in the exact manner in which
you have set out your ideas on the page.  Once again, there is no
copyright protection in the ideas themselves.

Also, copyright comes into existence automatically when a copyright
work is created.  It does not need to be (and indeed cannot be)
registered at the Patent Office.

The reference by easterangel to possible 'design rights' is incorrect.
 Although these do indeed exist in the UK, they do not cover computer
programs; they are actually more normally associated with functional
3D designs, such as a design for a gearbox.  There is also a totally
different type of design (a 'registrable design'), for which an
application has to be make to the Patent Office; however, this type of
design also excludes computer programs.

The word 'design' is best avoided as it has a variety of specialized
meanings in Intellectual Property law, none of which I think cover
what you are doing.  By 'design' I assume you mean, if not code, then
at least some high-level ideas or concepts about how the program will
work in practice.

The only possible way of obtaining intellectual property protection
for a program concept, or high-level series of ideas, is by way of a
patent.  That can only be done in the UK provided that the ideas or
concepts you want to protect are still confidential - that is, that
you have not disclosed them to anyone except in confidence.  (There
are also a number of limitations on the type of idea that can be
patented in this field).

If you have told this person openly (without confidentiality being at
least implied), you are now too late to apply for a UK or European
patent.  On the other hand, if he/she was told in confidence and is
now threatening to disclose your ideas, or even if he/she has already
done so, you may still be in time provided you act fast.

If your discussions were in confidence, you may also be able to allege
misuse of confidential information or even misuse of trade secrets.  I
assume there was no contact between you that may have been breached?

But if you have just discussed the ideas openly, and the threat is
merely to use those ideas without actually copying any of your code or
your flowcharts etc, there is nothing much you can now do.  The only
way of protecting the ideas themselves is by way of a patent, and a
patent can be obtained (in the UK - the rules are different in the US
and in some other countries) only if the ideas still remain
confidential.  Unfortunately, there is no general class of
intellectual property which covers the misuse of ideas or concepts in
themselves.

This is a highly specialized field, and you should seek immediate
advice from a UK Patent Attorney who specializes in software-related
inventions.  Depending upon disclosure dates you may need to act fast
to protect your position.  Attorneys routinely deal with this type of
issue, and will also be able to advise in more detail whether you may
still be able to seek patent protection.  If so, your Attorney can
draft and file an application on your behalf.

The professional body for Patent Attorneys in the UK is The Chartered
Institute of Patent Agents.  Details may be found at:

http://www.cipa.org.uk/home.html

They provide a list of Attorneys, by area, at:

http://www.cipa.org.uk/who_are_we/patentsearch.cfm


Hope this helps.  It's not a question that can reasonably be answered
simply by a web-search.

regards

Michael2

As the person who initiated (and paid for) the question, I broadly
agree with Michael2-ga. This time round Easterangel-ga has
unfortunately not answered the question correctly and has provided
information that is wrong. However, I appreciate his/her efforts, and
I know it was given in good faith, but this is a topic where an
exactitude of knowledge is required to answer appropriately. It was
the answer of a non-lawyer assessing a complex area of law.

I have now spoken to, and hired, Intellectual Property lawyers today,
and their comments are similar to michael2-ga. In my case, the
circumstances are a little different to those described by
michael2-ga. The software design I have produced is not only
high-level but includes detailed coding specification for interleaving
with a number of operating systems (Linux, Solaris, Windows-NT) and
many interface specifications, etc. The software specs were given, as
michael2-ga points out, in commercial confidence, and explicitly
within the framework of determing whether a joint venture between
myself and this person could be constructed to develop the software.
The specs were detailed to sufficient level that many programmers
could develop code directly without further input.

The person who has "stolen" my work has gone to a couple of software
houses proposing that if they develop the software for free, they and
he can share any profits on a 50-50 basis (these companies are not
aware - yet! -that he is not the authorof the specs). He has also
contacted clients claiming to have the product already built (which is
untrue) and trying to sell it to them. Furthermore, he has just
written me an e-mail claiming that he did the majority of the work!
Absolutely incredible! Fortunately I have an audit trail which proves
that I did all the work and that he did none (and luckily he even
states this in an earlier e-mail to me). I also have significant third
party corroboration of all these circumstances. This is a horror story
for me, but my lawyers are excellent (how do I know they are good? -
my best friend happens to be a barrister in chambers specialising in
IP).
Finally, many thanks to michael2-ga. An excellent comment. Really
helpful. Michael, you must be a lawyer! - Is there any way we can
e-mail each other directly? John

Hi judojohn-ga! As you can see I had my answer removed by requesting
the Google Answers editors since it was not the answer that you
required. Furthermore I took this action so you wouldn't be charged
for the fee.

I hope that you will continue to use Googla Answers as a source of
information in the future.

Thanks!