Re: proof of prior art

Gregory L. Hansen wrote:
>>
>> I've heard that too. but (1) is it actually true, and (2) what's to
>> stop me mailing myself an unsealed envelope?
>
> (1) It is true. Or rather, it will be considered evidence if you
> bring the matter to court. Sending it to yourself by registered mail
> proves the date because...
>
> (2) The Post Office puts the envelope in their own envelope and seals
> it for you.

FYI, this is not considered to be a very good way of protecting a work.
Google "Poor man's copyright" and do some reading on it.

Not sure if what you want to do falls under Copyright or Patent:

If you're talking about a Copyright, filing a legal Copyright with the
Copyright Office costs only about $25, and provides much better protection.
However, you should be aware that copyright protection exists from the
moment the work is "fixed in a tangible form" - which includes being entered
into a word processor. The registration provides a very strong proof and
additional legal recourse in case of an infringement. See
http://www.copyright.gov/

If you're talking about a Patent, then be aware that there is no way to
protect the idea - Patents are awarded upon the technology being "reduced to
practice" - basically you have to demonstrate a prototype of the patented
technology. According to the website: "A patent cannot be obtained upon a
mere idea or suggestion. ... A complete description of the actual machine or
other subject matter for which a patent is sought is required.". The basic
filing fee for a patent by a "small entity" (which you would be in this
case) is $395. But you would probably want to retain a lawyer to make sure
it's done right... See: http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm

If it's Patentable and you want to establish priority claim to the
technology, you might want to consider filing a "Disclosure Document" with
the USPTO, which exists specifically for this purpose. Filing a Disclosure
Document costs $10, and the contents are kept confidential by the USPTO. See
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/disdo.html for details.

If your idea isn't worth spending $10 on, you might want to rethink spending
a lot of time on it, too...


.

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