Cantus - I guess because we share ideas and thoughts - his concept is that the whole world share thoughts and ideas etc.
Open source is not always feasible. Ideas cannot simply be copyrighted, nor patented or trademarked etc. Each of these concepts are different.
Trademark is a symbol/name or whatever that is associated with a product (Harley could not trademark or patent their motorbike engines, so when other companies were getting closer to copying the Harley image, they trademarked the sound of the engine. In the documentation it is spelled "potato-potato-potato")
Copyright is not something that you apply for. If you write something original you automatically get the copyright to it. No need for the "(C)" symbol even. The tough bit is proof of copyright ownership. Copyright is cancelled 50 years after the death of the author. Thus a lot of classical music is free. (Though recordings by a paticular orchestra are not...)
Patents are *often* limited to a country, so you would need one in the US, one in Aus, though I think you can get international ones. A full patent means that you have described an example of the product fully and this info is then freely available to anyone. The patent means that only you can produce/use/license the invention. There are a bunch of criteria a patent must meet.
Patents only last 6 or 20 years (depending on the type). Considering that a new medicinal drug can takes 14 years from initial conception to market - that leaves the pharmaceutical company only a half dozen or so years to make back the millions of dollars they invested in the drug before a cheaper, generic "open-source" equivalent is available. If the company cannot make this money - the initial research will not be performed - the drug will never eventuate.
There are a bunch of other ways to protect intellectual property all with strengths and weaknesses.
So even though open-source is designed to create an open environment where a multitude of variations and products is available, sometimes it can prevent further discovery.
Incidentally - Coca Cola, Coke, "enjoy", "buddy", the dynamic ribbon device and the contoured bottle are all trademarked. The recipe, however, cannot be covered legally and kept the sole knowledge of Coke, except by using "trade secret" laws. If you tell someone that it is a secret then tell the secret - they are obliged (by law) to keep that secret. However, the only defense is litigation. Since Coke would stand to lose a LOT more from the release of the recipe than they would gain from any law suit, the number of people who know the secret is kept to a minimum.
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Where's the foetus gonna gestate? You gonna keep it in a box?
Pepsi Marketing Executive promotes the merits of new "pot-pepsi", (its the choice of a new generation) noting it as a marketing coup that will enable them to sell more snacks as well.
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