intellectual-property
Intellectual property protection for a simple web tool
<p>I have created a pretty simple web tool where the user enters some personal information and receives back a spreadsheet listing the likely consequences of various lifestyle choices.  (I am being deliberately vague here.)  I believe that a) this is a useful tool, b) there is currently nothing like it on the web, and c) it would be extremely easy for a competent programmer to devise a perfect substitute.</p>
<p>I showed this site recently to a near-stranger who is an executive at a large corporation, and was surprised a few days later to receive an email asking if I'd be interested in selling the site, and if so, how much I want for it. He also requested permission to share the site URL with a selected few of his colleagues, and promised not to share it further without my explicit permission.</p>
<p>I am paralyzed by the &quot;how much do you want for it&quot; question, but that's not something I expect to get help for here.  Instead, my question is:  Should I (and can I) do anything at this point by way of intellectual property protection.  It seems clear to me that if this organization wants a site like mine, their staff can whip one up for them in a few weeks.  Is there a way to protect against that?</p>

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<p>You are protected by copyright as a matter of law, even if you don't post a copyright notice, although you have slightly more procedural rights if you do post a copyright notice and there would need to be a filing with the copyright registrar (a division of the Library of Congress) before you brought suit.</p>
<p>You can't really get any other intellectual property protections for it except possibly a trademark if you have a distinctive mark or name or logo for the app.</p>
