Inventors must protect their creations

Like the tiny acorn that grows to become a mighty oak, an idea that is protected and properly nourished can grow to become a huge corporation.

It isn’t surprising that many of today’s corporate giants were founded more than a century ago with intellectual property as the basic building block.

It is a fact that the creative genius of inventors and innovators such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford was responsible for the formation of many of the successful corporations that are now among the largest in the world.

However, careful research reveals that in many of these success stories, the intellectual property upon which the company was founded was stolen. And often the crime has been covered up by never-ending legal challenges funded by deep-pocketed corporations.

The story of corporate fraud reads like David and Goliath, with the lowly inventor playing the role of David. David won with a slingshot, and the only way that an inventor can win against such corporate Goliaths is with a well-written patent.

Two significant cases will illustrate the need to protect your intellectual property. First, everyone "knows" that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and then proceeded to build the company that became known as American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T).

By David M. Brown
Brigham Young University

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