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Alok's Posts / Startup

What is Intellectual Property? I say it’s something that starts in the MIND…

Yesterday, I posted on therodinhoods.wpengine.com about an idea called RIO describing it as  a “social charity widget”.

This is the first page of a PPT that was part of that post:

 

All hell broke lose on the use of the words “IP of Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal” as seen above.

Two comments are produced below: 

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Nisarg Shah Reply by Nisarg Shah 

Alok,

Been online after many days, and while I really love the RIO thingy, I had seen this many many months before, and would like to play a devil’s advocate, and ask you how RIO is different.

https://www.freakonomics.com/2011/02/23/does-swipegood-lead-to-more-…

https://lifehacker.com/5720351/swipegood-donates-your-loose-change-t…

(dated: 2010)

https://swipegood.com/

https://techcrunch.com/tag/swipegood/

Would love to hear 😛

Bestttt,

Nisarg

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Alok 'Rodinhood' KejriwalReply by Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal

It’s NOT IN INDIA.

Makes sense???

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Nisarg Shah Reply by Nisarg Shah yesterday

Baba, it does. But, that is why the “I really love the RIO thingy”.

Was just not clear if it was different except for its locale. Coz it says “Rodinhood IP”! And, I have begun expecting only the best from you !! 

But, I wish you make it a great product! It is a great concept, and very much needed in the Indian context 🙂

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VARUN MITTALReply by VARUN MITTAL

Godaddy is using it for so long of which you are also a customer. I am not sure what kind of IP it is of yours. It is just making a widget of a feature you saw on a site who use very frequently.

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The comments I got within minutes of posting yesterday’s blog is actually the inspiration of this blog.

I want to understand: WHY do we Indians get so defensive when it comes to the word Intellectual Property?

Why don’t we use IP with aggression? Why don’t we make claims of owning it?

Is it that we are afraid of claiming something that “already exists” , OR that it will be the case for a counter claim?

Or simply said – do we NOT understand what IP really IS?

A month ago, I got a call from a good friend who was quite shaken up. He mentioned that he had received a legal notice from Zynga (Makers of Farmville, Cityville) demanding that he WITHDRAW a game that he had just launched in the Apps Market that had a phrase similar to ‘Words with Friends’

Why? Because Zynga claimed it had a very popular game by the same name, and that they had ‘filed’ for copyrights, patents etc.

Zynga did not cite any actual Patent or Copyright! They just said that they owned a game that was a leader in its category and hence my friend’s similar sounding game would confuse the market place!

Funny, because Zynga’s Farmville is a RIP OFF of a very popular game from China and then RE-INVENTED.

The way I see it:

– First, let’s learn to CELEBRATE Creativity and Originality.

That does not mean that because the IDEA has been done before (in the case of my RIO widget or Zynga), that there cannot be ADDITIONAL Intellectual Creation on that Idea!!

Angry Birds is based on a very famous and successful flash game called Castle Crushers as far as I remember. 

(This is what the CEO of Angry Birds says in this interview

CEO : “….the inspiration probably came from other games — Angry Birds definitely has a mixture of games in it. The most important part inspiration-wise for us, were the characters…..”

BUT Rovio (the makers of Angry Birds) INVENTED brand new game playing mechanics, scoring ideas and most importantly, the characters and storyline of Birds that were Angry and made history!

So, if you can ADD VALUE to a great idea, you can CERTAINLY CLAIM IP!

It’s an Intellectual HIGH! Why deny yourself?

As a nation, we must take PRIDE in claiming what we believe is ORIGINAL. Let others prove to us that it is not.

– Copyright and Trademarks ARE NOT the only form of IP

So, if I rename some random game of mine and call it ‘Angry Birds’, sure I am violating Rovio’s COPYRIGHT IP.

Simply said, Rovio has built a great brand associated with the name ‘Angry Birds’ and I cannot PASTE that on any game to take advantage of the same.

It’s a copyright and trademark violation.

BUT, like Angry Birds took inspiration from other games, and created a brand new set of characters and personality around the innovation, it also means that ALL OF US can CREATE ON TOP OF IP and fire up our OWN IP!

– Business Process is also IP!

If you can INVENT a new way of doing business that already exists, sure enough, you are creating IP!

There are so many live processes around us that SUCK. 

Between us, we can think of a zillion ways of making regular, “has been happening” old boring stuff and TRANSFORMING IT to a new, easy-to-use and hence successful invention.

Example – If I can now PRINT out my Boarding Pass on my PC and use it to board a plane (instead of wasting time standing to get it), THAT IS A BUSINESS PROCESS IP invention that has happened!

To add more fuel to the fire, if the same online Boarding pass is now mailed to me and I can SHOW IT AT CHECK-IN (like I see people doing so all the time in India and the US), then I say that Airlines have created a BUSINESS PROCESS invention in allowing passengers to check-in with their mobile phones and not waste their time and energy printing stuff.

So, the process of making business better is surely IP.

– PATENTS AND LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO

The out and out disclaimer I am stating here is that I use the words IP LOOSELY.

It may NOT be worthy of Patents.

Claims of owning Intellectual Property in some of the cases above may NOT pass the Courts of Law.

BUT, as an Indian, I ENCOURAGE Entrepreneurs to DREAM of IP – of inventing ideas, innovations and business processes. And to have the guts and glory to THINK of it as IP – because they have ADDED something unique in it; who gives a damn if it’s patent worthy or not?!!

Once we BEGIN to THINK in terms of IP – we WILL CREATE IP.

In the same vein, I hope to prove that my RIO widget is ALSO IP. God be on my side…

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p.s – I am NOT an expert on this subject. If you are or have experience in this domain, please share the same for the benefit of the readers. Think of this as the post to begin a conversation on this topic.

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14 Comments

  1. Sirji , you are an inspiration for so many people now that whatever you is taken seriously. Unfortunately like all great people now you are also laden with burden of expectation of being right. You might be using the term IP very loosely but it is just that people expect only the best from you.

    In the same vein as you mentioned the above cases wherein CEO of the referred company accepted the inspirations publicly. None expected you to not give credit to the inspiration since you been pillar of ethics and value for all your followers.

    I respect the fact you want to motivate Indian entrepreneurs to think about IP just that they probably might need to use the term a bit more cautiously.

  2. Its OK Varun.

    Lightly does not mean incorrectly.

    We MUST think and believe in creating IP. Who gives a damn its worth a patent or not?

    Else, you know what happens?

    First people look at everything that has happened and stop.

    Its like Angry Birds guy saying – ‘oh man, this is already done’….

    He added to what ‘was’. Thats IP.

     

  3. So, just for the records, if I had said in the example box, ‘screen shot from godaddy’ that would have helped?

    I’m asking innocently – for the future.

    I’m intrigued coz you mention disclaimer now vs. thinking of an also done idea as IP.

    Thats what I am clarifying.

    Also, when Angry Birds launched, they didn’t say ‘Our games are inspired from x, y and z.’ This is from an interview when he is asked a specific question. He was Interviewed BECAUSE he created IP!

    But I respect your view and will strive to improve.

  4. Alok,

    I am  an avid reader of your blog. Your blog keeps inspiring me to become an entrepreneur. I had interacted with you for filing patent applications for your company.

     Coming to the current post. I will try to keep this simple.

     1.) There is nothing wrong in using “IP of Alok ….”. There are no legal ramifications on this, in my opinion.

     Reason: This is an idea and not a product (that you are making, using, or selling). Its just an idea that is being shared with a group. (I loved the idea btw.).  

     Also, Business processes are not patentable in India and many other countries for that matter (they are patenable in US though), and your idea is a business process.  So even if companies are doing it or have patented it, you are free to use this idea in India. No one can sue you for that.

     And even if an idea is already being implemented and/or is patented, it does not mean that the idea should be killed. One can always think around and/or make some additions to the idea. Legal opinion must be taken though before launching a product, just to be on a safer side.

     2.) Also, as an inventor/Entrepreneur, being bogged down by “does this idea already exists”, kills creativity, kills ideas. If one is caught in that trap, every second idea would seem obvious.

     Moreover, even if an idea is already in use, there’s always a better way to execute it. The legal caution though is: before going to market or launching a product, a legal study must be conducted to check if that idea is patented or not. And if it is patented, there are always ways to tweak you idea in such a way that the idea does not infringe the patent.

     3.) Patents are jurisdiction specific. So if you want to protect your idea in a particular country, you need to file a patent in that country. For example, if company ABC has not filed a patent in India for their idea (which may be patented in other countries), they cannot sue a person who is using, making, or selling a product based on that idea in India.

     One should never innovate with an objective of filing a patent. This will dilute or kill your idea. Patents are just a legal tool to protect your ideas. 

    P.S –The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer’s view in any way.

  5. I personally feel it would have been apt for someone of your stature to give credits to Godaddy.

    Someone who remember what Mr. Ruia did several years ago for him and writes about it, even though Mr. Ruia might have forgotten it himself is really a person who is eager to share credits as and when required. You are someone who gives credit to the person who gifted you domain even though you were not required to share that with world. So it was unnerving for some of your followers like me since we expected you to be the last person to not give credit to source of inspiration and claim it like it IP ( just referring to general perception of IP) 

    My 2 cents 🙂 

  6. Cool. I think u missed the whole point, but that’s fine.

  7. You know what makes me feel nice about struggling 13+ years ?

    Comments like these.

    No bias, no flattery, no nonsense. Just facts.

    Many many thanks.

  8. Jyoti, thanks for that knowledge. Shucks, I missed adding that line.

    Let me ask you and Varun one question:

    – What about disclosing the fact that the social widget itself is an idea of someone else as correctly pointed out by everyone?

    So, instead of publishing my innovation on TOP of an idea, I should search google extensively for who was the innovator?

    – If I don’t get the right answer, what do I do? Write the person who used it later? Then won’t person No 1 get offended!

    This is quintessentially why we Indians FAIL. We miss the WATER FOR THE BUCKET

  9. The issue was not talking about social widget but that claiming that it was a breakthrough idea and an IP. I agree that it might not be always possible to be able to find the name of innovator but knowingly hiding it was what unnerved people. INTENTIONAL MASKING of original idea source in my opinion is unethical, no matter what patriotic flavour it might be painted with.

    You may feel I missed the point but I feel you missed the point what people wanted to make. We respect you and your ideas but didn’t appreciate the not giving of due credit by you to godaddy considering you are a self confessed customer of theirs. 

  10. Ankush Superb facts..nothing to be said after this it will be lame.

  11. thanks Alok.

    You are always welcome

  12. Thanks Ashwin. IP is my bread and butter so I have to know these facts :-).

  13. Ankush I am dealing with IP,ideas,concepts,B. processes ,stories,acquiring them so do u mind puting your email here.

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