seminar idea

What is the name of your state?
I live in Illinois.
Hi , I have I think a trademark, patent or copyright statement and question.
I created a seminar for educational purposes and for profit. In researching any other people who had similar seminars I came across a company. This company is already in business and using one aspect of what I have included in my seminar. It's a method on how to teach a subject in a certain way. I have been using this system in private tutoring. There have been books and articles published on this system. My method and his method are similar in how he and I are applying it to certain educational subjects like history or english. He even mentions these books. He states on his web site that anyone who duplicates or reproduces his product in any form known or unknown and expressly stated is unathorized. I only have viewed his web site and have never purchased or seen any of his products or seminars. His seminar includes many other things and so does mine, but this one aspect seems to be alike. I would like to move forward with my seminars and home study courses as we are not in business yet. Could he assert any legal action for copyright, patent, or trademark issues against my company??
Thank you for your time with this question.

Last question first:

Could he assert any legal action for copyright, patent, or trademark issues against my company??

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Of course -- anyone can sue anybody else for anything. The more important question, does he have a leg to stand on?

It's a method on how to teach a subject in a certain way.

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Unless he has a patent issued by the US Patent Office (and you can search here to find out: www.uspto.gov), you simply can't protect an "idea" or "method." Ideas can't be protected by either copyright or trademark; only "expressions" of ideas can be protected. A good example is a recipe for, say, cookies: you could publish a recipe, I could take your recipe, rewrite it in my own words and using my own format, and sell it myself, and there is nothing you or anyone else could do about it (unless, of course, you had somehow managed to obtain a patent on the recipe). If I copied the "design" of your recipe -- the fonts, creative wording, background colors, etc. -- then I might be infringng on your rights under copyright law. But the "idea" itself -- the "method" for creating a particular cookie -- cannot be protected without a patent.

My method and his method are similar in how he and I are applying it to certain educational subjects like history or english. He even mentions these books.

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Unless you are using the same "language" that he uses, it is very unlikely that he could claim protection under copyright law.

EDIT: Actually, there is one nuance here that might apply. If your "method" could work for any subject, then the subjects he chose to use the method for -- history and english -- MIGHT be protected if the choice of those two subject required a "Creative" impulse on his part. If the method could ONLY be used for english and history, or if those are the only "obvious" choices, then it is unlikely he could prevent anyone else from doing the same thing.

He states on his web site that anyone who duplicates or reproduces his product in any form known or unknown and expressly stated is unathorized.

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Duplication or reproduction of any written or otherwise tangible material may very well infringe on rights he has under copyright law. But "doing something" similar to what he "does" is NOT proectable under copyright.

I would like to move forward with my seminars and home study courses as we are not in business yet.

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Depending on how much time and money you are planning on investing in this venture, it would be worthwhile to sit down and talk with a local attorney experienced in intellectual property matters, who can review ALL of the facts and can give you more focused, specific advice on what you can or can't do.

Illinois
Thank you so much for responding.
Here are some more thoughts on my situation.
The method has many different ways of applying to any subjects. This particular subject in the context of the seminars have 5 of the same subjects. The method is the same but the creativity is up to the teacher and of course how we teach it. For example I could teach it and sell it in print about a particular subject, and the student could do their own version of it. There have been 5 or more books written on this method. I feel that since I have not seen his version, I think I am ok. Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated.

I'm not sure of all details but was once told by a professor in a professional program to protect yourself with what is called a poor man's patent. Take your documents put them in an envelope and mail them to yourself. This provides a seal and postmark of a date. Don't open it.

In education, the stealing of ideas goes on all the time at all levels. Documentation can take many forms so best to document as you go, rembering that things like your computer cache and disc storage will have dates on them and good to keep copies of everything as you go even with minor changes. Make sure your computer and fax machines have the correct date on them. Draft documents can usualy be printed with time and date stamps, same for things you pull from the net because the date you pull something may have significance at a latter date. Many people will print on the footer patent peneding or applied for or copyright info. Save copies of flyers or brochures, any syllibus or biblographies, etc. Keep a list of people you contact regarding your work and who had viewed your working papers, any payments to consultants, letters, keep phone logs, messages, fax logs, postage and shipping bills.

In a professional school I gave a class presentation on a project I was working on which compiled a number of primary resources and a index of major recommendations relating to law and ethics. The profesor who was a former dean at a law school, everyone got copies of this and was a welcome resource for them and I was in fact was asked to teach a class on research, so I can prove my case very well and these were not the only ones with knowledge of the project, including a professional organization who was going to sponsor the project. Immagine my surprise when shortly thereafter, there appeard a brochure for a CE class with an exact list of my reccommendations, number for number and word for word, being given by that professor without so much as any contact with me or acknowledgement! There is more but this is sufficient. The point is to document what you do in addition to your research into your products history and that should put you well on your way to any future defense.

Many people believe Alexander G. Bell's claim to fame was the invention of the telephone, but may others had come up with similar inventions at the same time and the true leap forward was the invention of the "Switch" his true claim to fame was his writing of his patent, eventually he sold his interest because he got tired defending his patent.

re:seminar

Thank you for your advise. Your statements help me and anyone wanting to do something similar without infringing on anyone's rights. I wanted to know what happened in your situation?

I'm not sure of all details but was once told by a professor in a professional program to protect yourself with what is called a poor man's patent. Take your documents put them in an envelope and mail them to yourself. This provides a seal and postmark of a date. Don't open it.

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Just so you know, this "method" doesn't provide any real protection -- its only value is if you need to show that you created something first to protect yourself from an infringement claim. It doesn't give you any rights that you can assert against someone else.

Many people will print on the footer patent peneding or applied for or copyright info.

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This is irrelevant for three reasons. First, ANY creative work iis AUTOMATICALLY covered by copyright as soon as it is "fixed in a tangible format" -- that is, as soon as it is written down, in this case. Second, there is NO requirement for a copyright notice, whether the copyright is of the automatic variety or registered. Third, the copyright office does NOT recognize "pending" registration -- you are either covered under the "automatic" copyright rules or you have registered copyright -- either or.

The Patent Office doesn't recognize pending patents either, BTW.

In a professional school I gave a class presentation on a project I was working on which compiled a number of primary resources and a index of major recommendations relating to law and ethics. The profesor who was a former dean at a law school, everyone got copies of this and was a welcome resource for them and I was in fact was asked to teach a class on research, so I can prove my case very well and these were not the only ones with knowledge of the project, including a professional organization who was going to sponsor the project. Immagine my surprise when shortly thereafter, there appeard a brochure for a CE class with an exact list of my reccommendations, number for number and word for word, being given by that professor without so much as any contact with me or acknowledgement! There is more but this is sufficient. The point is to document what you do in addition to your research into your products history and that should put you well on your way to any future defense.

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That's pretty unethical of him, and pretty unfortunate that is happened to you. However, just so you know, copyright law does NOT protect the "sweat of the brow" -- only "creativity." It doesn't matter how hard you worked on something -- if all you did was compile facts (or create a "method," as with the OP's questions), there is almost no chance that it would have been protected by copyright. I'm not saying that this is what happened in your case -- it appears from your writing that you did more than simply gather facts -- but I just wanted to point out that, just because you worked hard on something, doesn't mean it is going to be protected. Just something to watch out for.

I said I didn't know the details, but that is what I heard and observed, so it is nice to know that one is covered without having to state it in writing, but it does fend off some potential "borrowing" of concepts. But documentation still make sense and can be used to prove good faith.

Actually, in the incident I provided, the part that was stolen was not the links to the sources but the "original work".

What happened, well there were several other things that had happened, upon the discovery and reporting this and at least 3 other major ethical violations, he suddenly "retired/resigned" going on to bigger and better things and I later learned he cancelled his membership in the BAR. A lawsuit would only have made things more complicated and precluded other future options. Justice takes many forms, is slow and sometimes it is sweet, such as when I read his letter of resignation knowing what prompted it and that he was no longer in a place to exploit students or others.