I like many others have a number of simple ideas on a fairly regular basis. I am never going to do anything with 99.9% of them and if someone else wants to use them and it improves someones life - great.

At least this brings it into the open and acts as a catylyst perhaps and ideas for sale side is not a bad idea but ultimately if someone feels that they have a really good idea that they are going to make cash from they would be foolish to post it publicly anywhere.

I think if you need protection then this is the wrong place!

Not quite actually. If you can prove proof of concept to an idea that's already been patented prior to the date that it was granted, you can contest the patent’s validity and have it rejected.

Patent law is pretty complex stuff, but there is legal recourse to protect ideas from being out right stolen. In fact it’s quite possible that a site such as this one could be used as evidence of originality and recognition.

I'm not a patent agent! So append your proverbial disclaimer and don't take my word for it. Always run any serious concerns by a patent attorney.

Cheers.

If you post your idea on this website, then, as far as most of the world is concerned, you are giving them free rights to use it. I thought that was the idea behind it!

You are not necessarily giving free rights to your fellow Americans. In USA, you can publish your idea first, and file your patent afterwards - sometimes, anyway. This free advice is worth what you paid for it - if you are serious about wanting a patent, ask a patent attorney, now.

Maybe there should be a warning about patent law on this website (there's an idea! - perhaps I'll file a patent on an ideas website that includes a warning about patents! Or perhaps I won't bother...)

Nobody can steal anybody else's idea and patent it. See paragraph (f) here.

And, it should be noted that there's nothing inherently incompatible between public discussion of ideas and intellectual property (except for perhaps trade secrets for obvious reasons).

Lastly, I've seen some threads here on the idea of requiring a promise not to sue on any of the ideas. The irony is that it would require a lawsuit to enforce that promise.

Really lastly, if you want to protect your idea, don't post it here. I don't say that for any ethical reasons; it's just that public disclosure of an idea before the process of protecting it is underway can undermine the protection -- good news for the anti-IP crowd.

Regards.

While someone may do this, at the end of the day any patent they get would be invalid, and they may even face some penalties. The patent act requires the applicant to affirm that she is the original inventor of what is being patented. If she derived the invention from a third party, as you are suggesting, she's not entitled to a patent at all.

I would like to see a system developed where ALL copyrighted information is tracked and search engines comb the internet looking for violations and report them to the original authors. This way an author of an idea at least has the opportunity to get something for their insight. Companies could be set up maintain the copyright server and would make their money by searching for violations and representing authors. Something like eBay, WhyNot, and Patent Attornies combined.

To get some perspective: Honeywell has received more money in a year from teams that were set up to prosecute thieves of their intellectual property, than the entire division produced through sales.