Intellectual Property Defined

What is IP, or "Intellectual Property?"

From the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition:

Any of various products of the intellect that have commercial value, including copyrighted property such as literary or artistic works, and ideational property, such as patents, business methods, and industrial processes.

The set of rights protecting such works and property from unlawful infringement.

Any product of someone's intellect that has commercial value: copyrights, patents, trademarksand trade secrets.

So, going back in history to 1976, the elements of the Firefighter Challenge meet the definition; that is, any form of Climbing a stairway under load, hoisting with gloved hand a weight, simulated "chopping" with a sledge hammer, (or ax), advancing a charged hose and "rescuing" a mannequin is a derivative of the original work of Dr. Paul Davis. His research was published widely in copyrighted publications and trademarks registered in the United States and the EU.

The words: Firefighter Challenge cannot be trademarked because they are too broad. But the stylized version of the words and associated trademarks can be protected.
Also, the published rules on the official website are copyrighted. "Knockoffs" abound. Which brings us to the subject of Intellectual Honesty.

"If I don't call it the Firefighter Challenge, am I not stealing?"

Yes you are. In an attempt to be perceived as original thinkers, some organizations "tweak it" to demonstrate a difference that would suggest that this was their idea. Yet, the order effect is still there. But the idea was NOT theirs. It's been 46 years since the first Challenge course was created. The legacy of records has been meticulously maintained to provide value and reference for benchmarks around the world. Interestingly, the popularity of the Challenge is demonstrated by the hundreds of postings on YouTube.

You can develop your own version of the Olympic Decathlon, but the coin of the realm, time or points are not going to have meaning if what you're doing is different. Here in lies the value of a "Brand." And that’s why imitators need to be called out. Simply answer the question "where did you get the idea for your version of the truth?"