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Something Borrowed, Something New: The Changing Role Of Novelty In Idea Protection Law, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

Ideas that do not qualify for legal protection, it is well settled, are free to the world once they have been disclosed. Yet states vary considerably in the scope of, and prerequisites for, legal protection granted to ideas. Variations in state approaches to idea protection are well documented. The states most often highlighted for their contrasting approaches are New York and California. Idea protection doctrine in these two jurisdictions differs primarily in the role played by the concept of “novelty.” There is no one authoritative definition of novelty in this context; indeed, courts typically use the term without defining it. …