Do you know how to make a hamburger?

Do you think it would be bettern than a McDonald's Quarter Pounder?

Would it cost you $3 to make it?

Why do you buy it anyway? Okay, you don't have your kitchen with you at lunchtime. Have you seen people drive through at dinner time? Think maybe they're planning on bringing it home?

Or how about I point you to the articles online that describe how to build your own digital video recorder. More capacity, more features and less cost than a TIVO. Why does TIVO still sell so well? Sure, the subscription service. But other than that?

But wait, you could take that same information and build your own DVR. You could start your own business. Hell the information is out there in the public, you can build it cheaper than TIVO and eat their lunch!

Oh wait, you couldn't. Because you'd still have to build a factory, hire the workers, do your own marketing, crate a supply and distribution chain ...

Hmm, it seems like this might still be hard.

My brother-in-law teaches high school business classes.[1] They had a McD's exec in one day to give a lecture. He started out by asking the students what business they thought he was in. They guessed the obvious: hamburgers, fast food, food service, restaurant, etc. He kept telling them, "No."

Finally he told them, "I'm in the real estate business. Anyone can make a hamburger. What we do is figure out the best places to put our franchises."

That's why Burger King tried advertising that they had won in taste tests -- which they had -- and it didn't matter. People don't choose McD's over BK for the taste. They choose it because it's right there on the corner.



[1] Don't think future business leaders of America, think jocks and burnouts taking an elective that doesn't have any standardized tests.

First, to get it out of the way, no I won't post our recipes and the step-by-step instructions. Although you'll notice that one of our items is a [link|http://dochope.com/assorted/biscuits_to_go.php|make your own dog biscuits] kit, which does have an ingredient list and step-by-step directions on it. No, it doesn't say exactly how much of each ingredient, but it's not hard to figure out.

Oh, and one of the steps is too add either more wheat flour or more chicken broth until it's the right consistency. How much is that? What is the "right" consistency? Don't ask me. My wife makes them. I've followed her recipe and I still can't get it right. It takes experience. Just like she lets me cut the [link|http://dochope.com/favorites/biscotti.php|doggie biscotti]. Cut them too fast and they crumble, too slow and they crush. And they have to be at the right temperature. What temperature is that? I don't know ... but I know what it feels like.

Next, if you want to want exact recipies, try [link|http://www.google.com/search?q=dog%2bbiscuit%2brecipe|dog+biscuit+recipe]. That's where I started about five years ago. The ones we use are probably still out there somewhere. There are probably even better ones. If you find one you like post a link to it and we'll add them to our lineup -- if you want to buy some.

Finally, if I tell my father-in-law our recipe and he sends it somewhere and it gets published I might be upset with him. If I think it costs me business I might even think he owes me something. But there's a funny thing about a trade secret. Once someone outside the company knows it, it's no longer a secret.

This is the crux of the problem with the term "intellectual property". Ideas are not real property. They can not be stolen. The nature of information required that laws be written to help creators profit from their creations. The three types of protections are copyright, trademark and patent. They serve different purposes and have different implications. But they share a common attribute: you can't keep something secret and at the same time claim patent, trademark or copyright on it.

Trade secrets are explicitly not afforded any of these three protections. They are protected by ... secrecy. Thus the term "trade secret". A trade secret may be protected by a license or non-disclosure agreement, but this is contract law. It only applies to parties to the contract.

So, if a trade secret can not be covered by patent, trademark or copyright; and if it is not real property, so can't be "stolen"; and if the group that published the rumors is not a party to any license or non-disclosure-agreement with Apple ... what area of law are they violating?

See my [link|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=189385|other post] where I answer my rhetorical (I thought) question.