I was going to post about the legal and practical issues—but then Don and Jason covered them. So instead, I recommend that you follow their advice.
One thing, though: patent reciprocity exists through treaties. So with the proper paperwork, a patent granted in one country can be recognized elsewhere, retroactive to the date that the first patent was granted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leav
I suggest that you publish the design under the Creative Commons license.
You can make sure no one can profit from it, they have to recognize you when using it and you can control whether they are allowed to modify it or not. |
The CC licence covers
creative representations of the design, such as the illustrations, drawings or the description. But it doesn't limit anyone's ability to read the design and produce parts using it, or sell those parts. (Basically, it's useless for protecting engineering information.)
A patent is what you're looking for, but it's unlikely to be practical to try to get one, in this situation.