If you’re just now opening doors to your new business, you probably have a flurry of important questions running through your head about customers and rent and upkeep and all the day-to-day things that will determine your long-term success. But one important question you might not be considering is, “Do I have intellectual property (IP) that needs protecting?” Your IP helps you and the economy when you can protect the items you either create or use to help produce commerce for your company. You’re also assuring your financial future by seeking out IP you can protect on a national and international level so no one else can profit from them.
So what should you be looking for when trying to figure out what intellectual property your company has? When you’re parsing what your company has, it can be categorized into two categories: industrial property and items suitable for copyright. Industrial property includes inventions or anything that you’re using in your business for commerce like logos and your business name. Items suitable for copyright include ideas in your company and creative works of expression. Together, they form the creative foundation of your business.
Industrial Property
One of the first things you and your staff may have worked on is a invention or product with the intention of taking it to market. If you leave this product out in the open, there’s a chance that it may be stolen. These can also be sketches or textual explanations of inventions you have yet to invent. And if you haven’t already patented or copyrighted your invention or sketches, you could be in trouble. Recent changes to patent law mean that priority goes to the first to file, not first to invent, so take steps early to keep anything you work on under lock and key.
You also want to be aware of property that you will want to trademark, like your business name and logos. Often these are things that are intangible or used outside your store and thusly not front of mind. However, they can be easily infringed upon if you decide to not trademark them and go with a common law protection instead. Common law rights give you some protection, though not comprehensively if you don’t officially file a trademark.
Intellectual Property for Copyrights
Chances are you have a number of creative works around your company accumulated as you develop your business. You shouldn’t leave those works lying around without having a copyright on them, lest you run the risk of them being stolen. Take the time to seek out all of these creative works and make sure it’s kept in a safe place. Once you’ve created any work, you’ll need help to file copyrights for every item, since not protecting these works could cost you money should someone steal these ideas.
Once those items are copyrighted, you’ll be able to seek out licensing rights where those using your items have to pay you a fee for its use. When you have thousands of copyrighted works, this could add up to thousands if not millions of dollars over time.
While it may seem time-consuming at the outset, the time spent identifying and protecting these assets is an investment in your company’s future, with considerable dividends.
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