Protecting Your Intellectual Property (IP)
Need For Protection of IP:
Depending on the nature of business you are into, your intellectual property could be anything such as a design, formula, process, system, and invention. Such a property is the most valuable asset that a company owns. IP is most valued because it can it provides various companies much needed leverage to stay remain ahead of competition successfully. This feature makes IP essential for a company.
IP is conferred on people who are recognized for their creative effort and is essentially a legal recognition. Such recognition gives one the right to fully exploit others IP for own benefit. As the owner of IP, you are allowed to sell, bequeath, or license your IP at your wish as much like any other real estate transaction.
Things to Remember:
To own your creation all by your own, you need to seek IP protection in every country. Adequate international agreements are in place, making it easier for the right seekers to obtain IP protection rights in other countries. The process of obtaining these rights, is however, very costly and generally involves translation of application forms into several other languages, as per the applicant's request.
You must be aware of the fact that just formally declaring that you are the owner of the IP does not solve the problem. Most importantly, do not speak about possession of any such IP before legally owning it. If you speak about such an ownership to others before obtaining the legal recognition, there are chances that your competitors may use such information to their advantage. This will mean that your products will not be considered new and hence you will not be able to get a patent for the product. In addition, you will be unable to prevent your product from being copied.
Clearly Define IP to Partners:
It is important that you clearly define issues relate to IP to your partners, especially you are into a joint venture with another company or companies. In case where you are marketing a brand in a particular market together with your joint-venture partner or involving the partner in design modification, you need to make sure who will retain the IP rights. It is preferable that you enter this clause into the partnership agreement itself.
You must also be aware of the fact that to market an IP product in another country, you need to obtain IP rights for the particular product in that country separately. Also check the expiry date for the IP right holding.
Related Tags: small business, business
Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.
Business Owners all across the country are joining "The Community of Small Business Owners" to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- A Los Angeles and Palm Springs California Modeling Lawyer Looks at Modeling Contracts and Advises How Models Can Protect Themselves
Models from Los Angeles to New York have a number of common questions when they first enter the mod - Palm Springs, Newport Beach and Malibu California Publicity and Privacy Rights Lawyer on the Right to Control the Use of Your Image and Likeness
Whether you are a star in the California entertainment industry in Hollywood, Malibu, Los Angeles, - A La Jolla, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego Biotechnology Attorney's View of What Biotechnology Can Do for Mankind
If you work in any of the high tech or university medical research areas of Southern California suc - La Quinta, Garden Grove and Corona Del Mar California Copyright Lawyer Looks at Copyright Infringements in Conversations
No matter where you live or try to make a living in Southern California, from Westminster and Missi - Palm Desert, San Diego and Orange County California Intellectual Property Attorney Explains the Worldwide Intellectual Property System
If you are an inventor, a writer, a musician or a designer, it doesn't matter if you live in Murrie - An Orange County, Fullerton and Riverside California Trademark Lawyer's Humorous Take on Trademark Infringement
To a great many people in Southern California, the law regarding infringement of trademarks, copyri - The Marketing of Candidates Using Trademarks and Campaign Slogans in California and the U.s
No matter where you live in America, whether it is in Orange County, California, Los Angeles, CA, S - Trademark of Slogans and Phrases by Palm Springs, San Diego and Orange County California Trademark Lawyers
Clients who want to trademark a slogan or phrase for their products can come from Santa Ana, Califo - Small Article- Poverty
Poverty. Most of the people in most of the cou - Protecting Your Interests: Using Competitive Intelligence Gathering Techniques at Tradeshows to Safeguard Your Bottom Line
"This looks absolutely amazing!" The attendee was smiling, eyes bright, a wide grin. "If this is
Most viewed articles in this category:
- 5 Ways to Protect Your Idea-for Less than $30
For all of the people out there who can't afford the $5,000 for a patent this book is for you. Even - Selecting Business Names and Intellectual Property Law
Whether a software license agreement is properly constructed for a transaction depends on a range of - Protect Your Creativity
As an entrepreneur, you are undoubtedly blessed with the ability to come up with new ideas for produ - How "Work For Hire" Laws Protect You When You Hire a Ghostwriter
Some people are interested in jumping on the article marketing bandwagon but lack either the time or - Digital Millennium Copyright Act DMCA Redefined - Steps to Keep Your Content and Intellectual Proper
As Viacom prepares to square off against Google in its lawsuit over the use of copyrighted material - The Difference Between Trade Secrets And Trademarks
Some people get confused between trade secrets and trademarks. A trademark is something that is publ - Intellectual Property Law - Copyright Law - Copyright Infringement - Computer Software
The case of Point Solutions Ltd v Focus Business Solutions Ltd and Another [2007], which was heard i - Intellectual Property - Copyright Infringement - Trade Mark Infringement
The case of KK Sony Computer Entertainment and Another v Pacific Game Technology (Holding) Ltd [2006 - Understanding Patent Database Behavior For Better Patent Search
Extracting information from huge datasets, based on keyword search is actually a challenging job. Pa - The Intellectual Property Audit - Finding What You Have (Part II of V)
One traditional definition of an intellectual property audit is "a cataloging of a organization's in
