Protecting Your Intellectual Property

All businesses have some form of intellectual property (“IP”), even if the only IP is the name of the business. IP is what helps differentiate your business and brand, setting it apart from other businesses.

IP can range from the name of your business and company logo to operating manuals, proprietary software, and technology used in direct association with your company and brand.

Intellectual Property infringement is more common than many entrepreneurs realize, which is why it’s essential to pay serious attention when it comes to protecting your company’s assets.

As an entrepreneur, protecting your IP may not be a top priority, but it’s important to recognize its worth and how it fits into your business goals, especially in the digital age. Even more important is to recognize how costly it can be if you fail to pay attention to the IP rights of others and protect your own IP.

Trademarks, Copyrights, And Patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office defines a trademark as “… a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.”

Although it can be a challenge to find a trademark that does not infringe upon the rights of another company, the advantages of the protections provided by a federal trademark registration are so significant that every business should persevere until it finds a non-infringing trademark, and then register it.

The U.S. Copyright Office defines a copyright as “A form of protection provided by the laws of the United States for “original works of authorship”, including literary, dramatic, musical, architectural, cartographic, choreographic, pantomimic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, and audiovisual creations.

“Copyright” literally means the right to copy but has come to mean that body of exclusive rights granted by law to copyright owners for protection of their work. Copyright protection does not extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, title, principle, or discovery.

Similarly, names, titles, short phrases, slogans, familiar symbols, mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, coloring, and listings of contents or ingredients are not subject to copyright.”

Copyrights consist of media such as books, music, artwork, software, websites, and online content. Copyright protection is also a real concern for all businesses who operate using digital assets or provide downloadable materials on company websites.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office defines a patent as “A patent is a limited duration property right relating to an invention, granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in exchange for public disclosure of the invention.”

A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to stop others from making, using, selling, and importing a specific invention for a limited period of years.

Maintaining Your Intellectual Property

Managing and maintaining your company’s IP assets is imperative. The IP inventory should include the type of IP (trademark, copyright, or patent), and more specifically for trademarks, the inventory should include the status of the IP, including: pending registration or registered, the serial numbers, the registration numbers, the USPTO.

International classes for which the IP is registered under, the descriptions correlating with those classes, the first dates the IP was used, the filing dates of the application, the registration dates, and the pending renewal dates (also known as maintenance dates).

Staying Protected

It is never an acceptable practice to leave your company’s IP unprotected and unmonitored. Infringements can go undetected for an extended period in many instances, which can lead to the damage of your company’s brand, and lesson the federal rights and protections provided by the IP registration. 

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