Has IPONZ created a new category of registerable IP?

For the record:

• Copyright protects original works, not ideas.
• Trade marks protect origin, not ideas (or content).
• Patents protect novel, non-obvious, documented inventions, not ideas (or configurations).

Despite what the IPONZ homepage implies, there is no way to prevent someone “having your  idea”. A patent comes close, but protects the invention – not simply “an idea” as such.

It is certainly a good thing to be able to use intellectual property law to protect the improper taking of your intellectual property, but making sure someone else doesn’t “have the same idea”? Not a good idea.

Credit: good spotting by Jonathan Hunt, HuntDesign