Ownership of Ideas in a Virtual World

Who owns “ideas” in a virtual world? A lawsuit currently underway between The Hershey Company and Hottrix, LLC over the development of an iPhone application that simulates drinking milk illustrates the difficulty of protecting an idea, especially a commercially valuable one, in our modern, virtual world, where ideas are both easily disseminated and imitated. This Alert examines the case and the challenges of securing and maintaining copyright protection as technology evolves.