No Triumph: The IP that Conan is leaving behind

But seriously, IP is a very useful concept... for me to poop on!

Probably a good thing for his career. Those bits could be funny the first few times you saw them but 10-15 years later; not so much so. Write some new material.

This reminds me of David Letterman's departure from NBC, when he had to leave behind the dim-witted character named Larry "Bud" Melman as "intellectual" property of NBC.

Of course, the actor moved to CBS with Letterman, under his own name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvert_DeForest#Work_with_Davi...

He wrote 'Marge verses the Monorail' which is one of the best Simpsons episodes ever.

>Ibrahim, however, told AmLaw that Conan might have som wiggle-room. “Conan will tweak his characters so they are clearly distinguishable, although the underlying concept is the same, because NBC can’t prevent him from going out and making a living by creating competing characters,” Ibrahim says.

They can't prevent it using only basic IP law but they can prevent it by contract. If the exit agreement includes a non-compete clause for example.