01. What is this site?

02. How do I post my idea?

03. How much does this cost?

04. You mean I have to register for something?

05. How do I know what’s going on with my idea?

06. How do I know my idea is protected once I post it in myBrainhead
       account?

07. Is my Idea protected under the Brainhead copyright? 

08. What is a “poor man’s patent”?

09. Who sees my idea once I go through the five steps to posting it?

10. What happens if someone contacts me about my idea?

11. What's Next?

01. What is this site?

Brainhead.com is a gathering place for those people who have new ideas, business ideas, product ideas, movie ideas, book ideas, web sites, or any kind of idea to post on the Internet in a place that specializes in showcasing YOUR IDEAS. 

It is the only place on the Internet that provides you the chance to research, develop, store, display, register and profit from your ideas.  The site is devoted to helping you protect your idea so you have the opportunity to retain ownership of it.  Brainhead.com specializes in teaching you the "tricks of the trade" and assisting you in all these aspects is our mission.

As the chances for you to make some money grow, we will stick closely with you should you have any questions.  The last thing brainhead.com wants is to see you stumble and fall. Contact us at help@brainhead.com with.... well, questions!

02. How do I post my idea?

We provide you with a registration form, which will get the standard information from you, name, address, username and email address. (see Privacy Policy) You will then be able to access the Post Ideas section and submit an idea.

Once in the Post Ideas area, you will be asked to provide additional information so that your idea can be solely identified with you or your company. This has been simplified to a 5-step process.

Step 01:             Title and brief description. 

Step 02:            Choose a Category.

Step 03:            Choose a subcategory and detailed description.

Step 04:            Attach a file. Please keep file names short.

Step 05:            Contact Info & Protect your Idea

You will be emailed a registration notice providing you with a serial number of your registration with our database should you ever need to use it, or refer to it at any time.  You can access your idea bank at any time in your myBrainhead account.

03. How much does this cost?

All these services are free to you. If you need additional help with your idea you can contact thebosses@brainhead.com for consulting services for branding, legal advice (through one of our affiliates), idea development, professional services locator, and more. The fees associated with this specialized consulting are charged on an hourly basis and very depending on the professional service required.

04. You mean I have to register for something?

You need to have access to your ideas and we want to provide you with the opportunity to make the idea come to life under your control.  By providing us with information on your idea in the five-step format, you have the greatest chance of ensuring that brainhead.com knows who you are.  More importantly, we know who has been accessing the information about your idea (should you allow others to see your ideas).

05. How do I know what’s going on with my idea?

We have integrated a myBrainhead section similar to other user sections on other sites. This area will be password protected, and serve as a hub for you to tailor your ideas as you track the people who view your idea, establish secondary “picket fence” ideas around other ideas, and monitor the progress of ideas that you have not finished.  The details will include the number of ideas you have posted, your assigned idea number, and the number of views of your idea.  This area will be fully customizable for you to enjoy your brainhead.com experience as much as possible.  We will keep a record of all that log on and view your idea, and eventually we will provide a full list of activity regarding your ideas.

06. How do I know my idea is protected once I post it in myBrainhead account?

We are here to provide you with a forum to suggest to the world a better way to think, to make something, or hear and read about something different.  As our users, you have our pledge that in addition to providing you with a secure environment where you can store your ideas, we will also provide you with both an electronic and a hard copy of each of the digital time stamp documents that we provide when a user submits an idea after Step 5 of the Post Ideas process

While we can not determine for you if your idea is real, genuine, or original, we can assure you that our secure servers and secure storage will protect up to 50 MB of whatever you need to protect.  We provide you with a password and user name that offers you unlimited access to your myBrainhead account.  We are very serious about offering our users the freedom from the fear that their ideas will be “stolen” or seen without their permission.  If you have further questions please contact us at help@brainhead.com.

07. Is my Idea protected under the Brainhead copyright?

Yes, your rights are obtained under the Copyright Act automatically when you list your Idea with Brainhead.

But please note, although certain rights accrue automatically, the full spectrum of rights under the Copyright Act are only available through prompt formal registration of the copyright with the United States Copyright Office. In addition to enhanced rights, additional remedies for copyright infringement are granted to the owner of a registered copyright.

08. What is a “poor man’s patent”?

This is another way of saying a third party verified your idea.  It used to be that if you had an idea, and didn’t have the resources to have patent attorneys and all their associates do patent research, patent filing, and all the related legal work, you could write down the idea, mail it back to yourself, and not open the letter.  This method offers you a modicum of protection and is similar to a provisional patent filing, only that it is not officially recognized by the proper governmental agencies, and is subject to review.  It does however give you a minor edge if you wanted to fight with someone who capitalized on a similar idea after you did, especially if you told them about it.

With a Third-party Verification service like brainhead.com, you are afforded much the same protection as a “poor man’s patent”  in that your name as well as the date posted will demonstrate that “you had it first”.   We will keep records of postings indefinitely.   This process will normally allow you some amount of time (up to 1 year) of provisional protection, but we recommend consulting a qualified patent attorney as soon as possible to discuss all of your options. In the meantime let’s keep your idea in the private section of your myBrainhead account until the US patent office issues you an application number.

09. Who sees my idea once I go through the five steps to posting it?

You have three (3)  access level options available, which are up to you to select:

              1. Private - All entries, once through the 5 steps will be maintained in your private myBrainhead account with no access to anyone with out the password you assign.  Our administrators will have access only if you request a retrieval of a lost password.  All of our staff is extremely serious about the free flow of information when the proper parties are given credit for their work.  in addition, all of our staff members are bound by the confidentiality agreement that you electronically agree to upon entering brainhead.com.  This agreement protects both ways and will not be broken by us at any time.

             2. Member - you allow registered brainhead.com users to view you ideas once install in the brainhead.com view an idea section.  This permission will be only by an idea by idea basis.  For example:  You have invented a new toaster.  In your short description you have included some jargon about small appliances.  The user is intrigued and contacts you regarding permission to view the full idea.  the permission you grant that user is limited to that one idea, and your nuclear engine ideas are still private.  This is to afford you the option to not show your entire volume of ideas but maybe share some for feedback and/or improvements.

             3. Public - at your choosing your ideas may be published in the brainhead.com database and viewed by all visitors to the site.  Many of these visitors have not signed confidentiality agreements.  Many ideas in here are already public domain issues, like: Gripes about products, political overtures, and reviews on music, books, movies, etc.

10. What happens if someone contacts me about my idea?

Get all the information you can from the person:  Their myBrainhead user name, telephone, name, company, etc.  Do not give out any statements regarding your willingness to sell the idea or make any deals until you have talked with an attorney.  This is the difference between being smart and not being smart.  Do not get too excited at the prospect of getting rich quick until you have the check in your hand.  Be sure you copy/paste all correspondence into your myBrainhead account and print copies of all correspondence with any potential suitors and keep them in a safe place.  Make sure you dot your I’s and cross your T’s because we want you to get paid what you are worth, and hope that our forum helped you get there. 

If you feel that someone is harassing you or forwarding unsolicited emails “spamming”, please contact the anti-spamming league (ASL) at help@brainhead.com and copy/paste the message to the ASL.  We’ll try to persuade them to stop and forward the messages and email address to the proper people.

11. What’s next?

Beginning in October of 2002, Brainhead will be updating its services, establishing a fee-based consulting service for idea development, and adding additional features to the website. Please be patient and feel free to write in and let us know your thoughts.