Trying to nail down the meaning of “innovative” is an intellectual challenge: it is one of those weasel words that keep slipping away. But we also have to cope with duller legal stuff: who owns those ideas that are submitted to Project Red Stripe? If we don’t deal with this issue from the start, it could come back to haunt us later – particularly if we dream up a money maker.

The fine print on the idea-gathering sites mentioned earlier is clear, though hidden in lengthy legalese. In short: we can do whatever we want with your ideas. Dell’s Ideastorm goes even further, essentially forbidding users from otherwise marketing their idea. Dell grants itself an “exclusive option” to purchase the idea, plus related materials, within a year. “If we exercise the option, you agree to accept payment in the amount of $1000 or value in kind at Dell’s discretion”, it declares in its “Terms of Service”.

We won’t go this far, but will likely have to take a similar path: the alternatives are far too messy. What if several people come up with similar ideas? What if we had the same idea ourselves? What if we combine several ideas?

Still, we won’t just take an idea and run with it. We intend to give credit where credit is due — even if we don’t know yet exactly how. And, perhaps even more enticing, we will further involve those making significant contributions in Project Red Stripe.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.