Sir Isaac Newton was a mathematician and scientist famously credited with the development of the concept of calculus. But do you know Isaac Newton was not the first person to publish his work? The Calculus Controversy was an argument between the mathematicians Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. In 1665, Newton created his somewhat clumsy method of fluxions (a form of calculus) and sat on his work until 1704. In the meantime, Leibniz wrote his calculus (the derivative dy/dx) around 1673 and he too sat on his work and only published it in 1684, twenty years ahead of Newton. When Newton learned of this, he accused that Leibniz had read some of his manuscripts and had plagiarised his ideas; while those that sided with Leibniz had argued that since Leibniz published his work first, Newton was the one that plagiarised. The controversy was never settled, but with Leibniz’s death in 1716, the controversy gradually subsided. The controversy had caused a huge mess during the late 1600s and early 1700s with Leibniz died poor and dishonoured; while, Newton was given a state funeral and remembered for his work.

🔸 #Lesson here: For a work to be protected under the Trademark Act and to be offered any form of Intellectual Property protection, it is important to publish your work. An idea is not protected as only work that is in tangible form is capable to be protected.