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Intellectual Property Business: Everything You Need to Know

Intellectual property is a means by which you own your business identity, technology, works of authorship, logo, slogans, or trade dress. 15 min read updated on February 01, 2023

What is Intellectual Property Business?

Intellectual property is a means by which you own your business identity, technology, works of authorship, logo, slogans, trade dress , and any other practical expression of the ideas that drive your business forward.

Intellectual property is vital to all levels of your business. From your initial business plan to trademarks , patents, and copyright , having the right representation and knowledge to protect those things that make your business unique is essential to your success.

What Is the Intellectual Property-Business Connection?

Everything important about your business aside from the actual people that run it, is somehow tied up in intellectual property. You could say that your business is the sum total of all of the intellectual property that form and relate to your concepts, practices, goods, and services.

One important aspect of intellectual property is that it must have commercial value and be protectable by patent, copyright, trade- or service mark , or trade secret laws. Specific kinds of IP can include brand names, works of literature, paintings, discoveries, formulae, physical inventions, written information, registered design work and music.

Why Is Intellectual Property Important to my Business?

Intellectual property is the key to drive growth and competition in the market place. It's essential to your company—in many ways, its heart and soul. Your ideas and the way you express and use them are as (or more) important to your company than its physical assets.

In addition to protecting these assets, they help you to:

Build a brand identity

Analyze information from the IP of other companies to gain a competitive edge

Increase your revenue stream from limiting or licensing competition to use your IP

Increase the commercial value of your company

Increase market access

Gain financing and venture capital

Increase the value of your brand

Create strong business partnerships

Protect your freedom to operate , and reduce infringement risks

Preserve geographic market segmentation by restricting exports and imports

How Do I Protect My Intellectual Property?

Protecting your intellectual property is essential to maintaining your competitive edge in the marketplace, and is accomplished in one of four ways :

Trade Secrets

Abstract ideas are not subject to the above protections. In no case is an abstract concept or idea granted specific intellectual property protection . There must be some expression of the idea, which is what is protected.  

Copyright protects works of authorship. That includes literary, musical, dramatic, graphical, sculpted, photographic, recorded, filmed, architectural, and website works, as well as the interface, form and function of software, and the specific code used to make the software work.

Copyright provides the owner with exclusive rights to use, display, copy, exhibit, modify, and otherwise present and distribute the work. Such protection is automatic the moment a work is created, but can also be registered with the federal government for additional protections in court.

Trademarks are those things that make up your brand. Certain phrases, logos, unique words, and graphic design elements can be trademarked. Trademarks defend against confusion or dilution of the brand in the marketplace. Like copyright, trademark is automatic upon the first time you use such a mark in business, and mark it with a ™ symbol.

However, for stronger protection in courts, it is highly recommended that trademarks be  registered with the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). Registering such a mark carries a presumption of validity in court and allows you to use the ® symbol after the mark. In addition, after five years of constant use you can file for your mark to become incontestable, which adds strong additional protections.

Trademarks have to be distinctive in order to gain protection. You can't for example, just call a deli, "Sandwiches," and trademark that word. Even a derivative of the word, like "Sammiches," would be hard to trademark, as it's still simply descriptive of the product. The more distinctive the word is, the easier it is to trademark, but you still need to create a market identity, so finding a distinctive term that still evokes your product is a delicate balancing act. The mark's association with your business denotes its strength, which is vital if you need to defend your ownership of it.

The Difference Between a Trademark and a Copyright

The difference between a trademark and a copyright is what they protect. Trademarks are registered with the USPTO and last for ten years. They protect any name, symbol, or logo that is used for branding the goods of a business. Copyrights , on the other hand, are used to protect creative works. This can include films, books, songs, and many other works of art. A copyright is registered with the Library of Congress. It lasts for the lifespan of its original owner plus seventy years.

Patents protect your actual inventions—methods, processes and physical creations which are "novel" (unique), "non-obvious," and which solve a problem in a useful way. Patents last for 20 years, during which time you have exclusive rights to use, manufacture, ship, import, sell or make available for sale your invention.

There are three types of patents :

Utility patents , the most common, form, protect physical inventions, chemicals and processes. These are the type of patent that's usually referred to when someone talks about patents .

Design patents protect the unique form, appearance or design of an item.

Plant patents protect the development of a new variety of plant via asexual reproduction in a controlled setting.

The elements of a patent require that your work be "novel," or truly unique and previously unknown in the territory or country where the patent is held. It must be non-obvious, meaning that anyone with ordinary skill in the associated art wouldn't have come up with the same idea through a basic leap of logic. Finally, it must be useful, that is, offer significant use that is beneficial in solving a problem.

Patents protect physical inventions and specific mixtures of ingredients or chemical compounds, as well as those acts, methods and processes related to industrial or technical use. If it's a unique physical product or the process for producing a physical product, a patent can be sought to protect it. Obtaining a patent requires that you publicly reveal the object in full detail.

It can take up to three years (sometimes longer) to complete the process of a patent, so it's important to start the moment you have something that is patentable . It's also important to note that you have one year to file for a patent following the revelation that your invention exists, be it from a public demonstration or published description.

Trademarks, Business Name Registration, and Domain Names

Trademarks, domain names and business name registrations are three related but very different things. Trademarks protect your brand in court from use by another. Business names can be registered with your state to allow you to function as a corporation, LLC or other entity for tax purposes. Domain names are web address URLs. Each of these is mutually exclusive in terms of the legal protections it offers, and each must be pursued separately.

Trade secrets , finally, are those things which give your business a competitive edge, and which if they were known would harm your ability to compete in the marketplace. Legal protections for trade secrets are limited and are usually defined only through licensing and non-disclosure agreements which outline the penalties for violating the secret.

The down side of this protection is that once a secret is revealed, it can no longer be treated as a trade secret. Trade secrets also do not protect you from someone reverse-engineering or parallel development of the same process or formula.

On the up side, so long as you maintain your secret, you can gain exclusive income far longer than the 20 years offered from a patent. Some of the best examples of this are the secret formulae for drinks like Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper.

IP Protection Strategies

Protecting your intellectual property does not stop at filing the right paperwork, but requires active work to defend. Make sure that your clients are aware of your ownership and make active use of non-disclosure agreements.

Keep an eye on independent contract workers. These can be some of the largest dangers for IP theft. They also may attempt to claim ownership of any IP they developed while working with the company, after their contract is up. Use contracts that clearly define the ownership of any IP developed in the course of the partnership.

Don't be afraid to make use of cease and desist letters or to contact potential infringers and advise them to stop their infringing activities. You may need to file a lawsuit if they fail to obey, but active legal protections are vital to maintaining your IP.

Do your homework. Always make sure that your IP isn't owned by someone else already when you pursue a new market. Also ensure that the new market's laws will protect your IP rights adequately. Transferring IP to the new market will carry associated costs, which you'll need to consider.

Above all else, remember that your IP is an asset to your business. Protecting it is a necessity, not a luxury. It is an essential part of your costs and budget, every bit as important as your employees.

Fallacies about Intellectual Property Business

There are a number of fallacies regarding intellectual property that can prove devastating to businesses, including:

It's not worth the time and effort to register IP: If you fail to register your trademarks, copyrights and patents, before you know it someone will produce knock-off products and it will fall upon you to prove that you had the property first. Even worse, if your competitor files a patent on your invention before you do, they legally own it!

Once I have a trademark, my property is safe: This may or may not be true. Even with a valid trademark, people can still challenge your ownership. The trademark ownership also doesn't stop other people from buying a domain using that trademark.

A patent automatically allows me to produce something: This is a basic misunderstanding in patent law . Patents don't give you the right to produce; they give you the right to stop others from producing. In addition, patents can and often are challenged in court.

A trademark or patent in the U.S. protects me everywhere: Again, this carries varying degrees of truth. In general, IP rights have to be gained country by country. There are certain trade agreements that offer limited protection across borders but these are by no means universal.

The myth of the Patent Troll : Coined in reference to a lawsuit between holding company NTP and Research in Motion, who market the Blackberry, over a wireless e-mail delivery patent, this myth dismisses those who collect patents as a business model as parasitic trolls out to hoard property and never let anyone have it except at a premium.

The truth is, many inventors are "idea people" who partner with others to produce their concepts. Thomas Edison was one such inventor. These people aren't generally out to stop others from using products, but to allow as many people access as possible through licensing agreements .

An Overview of the Business Plan

Your business plan is far more than a report you write to get funding. It's a detailed strategic document you will use to guide your business, engage in commercial practices, bring products and services to market and grow in the future. The elements of a good business plan are:

Company description, mission statement, objectives, status, and parties of interest (managers and shareholders)

Description of goods and services

Goals for future development

Discussion of target audience, market and clients

Discussion of competitors

Company marketing strategy, distribution channels and sales

Discussion of how the business will be organized, from supply and manufacturing chains to outsourcing and purchasing issues, to employees and technology partners

Financial planning outline, including pro-forma balance sheets, profit and loss projections, estimation of required funding and outline of available funding sources.

Business plans serve a dual purpose. Internally, they are valuable for guiding your decisions and defining your vision and objectives for commercial and technical development. They provide useful indicators and targets to manage corporate performance.

Externally, your business plan will explain your company to investors and partners to act as an important aid in fundraising and business collaborations. They will both raise interest in your activities as well as serve to demonstrate your plans for the future which are based on a solid understanding of your own assets and strengths. They serve to plant your business solidly inside a larger technology and commercial community.

The Intellectual Property-Business Plan Connection

Intellectual property is deeply entrenched in your business plan, which describes your assets, resources, and strategy for success. It is vital to include a strong IP management and protection policy to make sure that all of your practices are defended against misuse and corporate espionage.

Your IP will have a major influence on the business model you choose to operate. Your business plan will refer to this IP and the intellectual property rights you hold to describe what makes you unique from competitors.

It also outlines the resources you can access to establish positive relationships with partners, investors and clients. IP and IPR become a key factor of your how solid and valuable your business is in the marketplace, and will have an influence on the strategic position you hold.

IP Information and the Business Description

How you will handle intellectual property rights is a key part of your business plan. If you describe it and place the proper value upon it, it can add a great deal of value in turn to your company.

On the other hand, if it is not clear or detailed enough, it can actually harm the value of your company in the eyes of potential stakeholders. This is because your company and the goods and services it provides have inherent value, but only if they are properly protected.

It's important that you avoid uncertainty or a lack of clarity. Failure to do so can lead to exploitation of your IP by competitors seeking to undermine your business. Further, defining these issues in your plan helps to make sure they are not only clearly defined for you and your business, but that they are in line with your mission and goals.

Dealing With Technical Details and Specs

When drafting your business plan, you need to decide the level of technical detail and specifications you want to include. This depends on how detailed you need to be in order to make the technology you're using understandable to readers, as well as defining the value it adds to your target audience.

Ideally, you'll want to keep the focus on the "value added" level as your business plan is an outline of your strategy for success in the market. Focus on descriptions of what the product does, how it works and what value it adds. Avoid overly technical jargon in your descriptions. Instead, focus on readability and clarity.

Your business plan is generally considered privileged information and will remain generally confidential. As such you'll want to be careful who has access to the details within. This also means, however, that you can (and should) describe your products and associated trademarks as well as the brands you'll use to market them. Most successful businesses find it helpful to use a trademark for the overall brand, and then offer various modules and solutions under it.

Protecting IP Ownership Within the Business

Your business plan should be absolutely clear on how you will handle the ownership and commercialization of innovations and technology developed by various groups of employees, with involvement from researchers, designers and suppliers from outside the company.

The easiest way to handle this is that ownership is transferred to the business. In order to gain private investors , you may in fact have to adopt this option. If you choose to pursue shared ownership of the IP with the creators, you will need to have a default exclusive and long-term licensing agreement.

Investors and Intellectual Property

Investors focus heavily on IPR when they perform due diligence before offering any funding. They will check on the status of IPR the company owns, and consider all of this when they value the business. They will also review the extent to which the company's rights can be registered to restrict competition from copycats. The more exclusive your property can be held, the more valuable it will be come.

If you cannot register a certain IP, you will need to explain how the advantage offered by that IP will be maintained into the future. You could, for example, limit access to the IP to very specific people inside the company as a trade secret with binding non-disclosure agreements. For products like software packages with a limited lifecycle, a commitment to continual innovation and improvement can maintain a competitive edge.

Another important factor in maintaining your IP edge is to register web domain names (.com, .net, .biz, .eu and all variants) for all of your properties, even if you don't plan to use them. This will stop other people from gaining the domain and using it to create confusion in the marketplace.

Third Party Contracts

Any contracts you intend to keep with third party researchers, investigators, suppliers or other service providers need to be identified in the body of your business plan, with a clear policy for the development and maintenance of relationships with these partners, who become a form of stakeholder in your business.

Your partners need to have access to the necessary elements to fulfill their responsibilities to you, but not restricted in a way that they cannot themselves remain competitive. As such, define what access they will have to your IP for product development, but avoid overly restrictive or locked alliances.

Explaining your approach to partnerships in your business plan will allow you to create a roadmap for the future. It will define the parameters of your future collaborations and clarify any gray areas that might exist. Some options include:

No access to IP or proprietary information is required or involved in the agreement.

Specified patents are licensed to a partner, who may integrate the property into their own products within the country.

Collaboration and R&D agreements exist for all innovations which clearly define ownership of any new IP. If the IP is owned by the partner, the company has the right to negotiate for a first option on worldwide, exclusive sub-license on any resulting assets.

Sales Strategy: Global vs Local Markets

It is a common mistake for entrepreneurs to focus heavily on the global market potential of their product in their business plan, while ignoring the portion of the market that is immediately available and achievable. While having a big picture is admirable, it's vital to use your business plan to focus on the details of the small-scale operations and strategy of your company as well.

In order to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse marketplace, you will have to establish a range of partnerships, each of which has to be carefully reviewed and drafted to protect your interests. Failing to take care in these agreements can end up with you accidentally granting unlimited IP access to a partner who could later become a serious competitor.

Thus, when you define your sales strategy for the future, be as detailed and clear as possible in how you will handle:

Long-term relationships

Exclusive partnerships

Limited partnerships

Territorial partnerships

Contractual targets and milestones

Commercial Exclusivity

Never grant commercial exclusivity unless there is a specific need for it justified by your global strategy —a worldwide device manufacturer, for example, who can effectively fulfill your product manufacturing and distribution channels.

You will need to be sure the price of such exclusivity is reflected in the revenues you gather from the commercial agreement . All of this needs to be accounted for in your business plan.

Every partnership, for example, includes multiple arms. These could include (but are not limited to):

Product sales

Product manufacturing and distribution

Licensing agreements and fees

Fee-based services and transfers related to skills and competencies

Outsourcing of know-how and services

At the other end of the spectrum, be sure that any co-existing direct or indirect sales channels are organized in such a way that they don't jeopardize one another. Having a clear strategy and vision when it comes to commercializing your IP creates a very clear explanation of the roles each market segment and territory will play. These could include (but are not limited to):

Skills and services for equipment installation and operation

Access to specific designed commercial and/or industrial markets

Access to an established infrastructure for sales, distribution, marketing, fulfillment, maintenance support and customer service

Past licensing agreements of goods and services from other companies

IP in Your Financial Plan

The financial plan area of your business plan describes both your beginning financial status and your plan for maintaining and growing the business into the future from a financial standpoint. The more accurate and detailed your valuation of your company is, the more credible you will look to potential investors.

In order to properly know what goes into the logic supporting the numbers, and to be able to answer questions put to you, you will need to understand the value of your IP assets and IP-related revenues. Not only do your IP assets help in terms of getting investor buy-in, they can serve if properly valued as security against loans.

Use respected, well-known and clear accounting methods when you value your business assets and intellectual property. Keep your figures realistic and rooted in proven methodology and an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of the method you choose.

When you negotiate with partners, investors or lenders you will likely have to further negotiate the values in question, as they are, in the end, only estimates. You will, however, have to incorporate a fixed value for your IP in your projected balance sheet.

Maintaining Realistic Expectations

It's important to keep the expectations for standard licensing agreements realistic and minimal. Clearly state them in formal collaboration agreements. Such standard rates can be found by doing your homework online, checking business databases and  performing internet searches .

If you expect that IP-based revenues will represent a large percentage of projected revenues, you may want to consider describing the global policy in your business plan. Consider include clauses in licensing agreements that, among other considerations, include:

Performance agreements

Pricing options and discounts

IPR, Market Potential and Analysis

Successful entrepreneurship requires keeping your eyes open for potential opportunities at all times. Your business plan should precisely describe not only chosen market segments to target, but how you will approach those markets in light of competitors and alternative technologies.

Searching patent and trademark registers can be vital to provide you important information about your competition. This will in turn, allow you to better map out your business' future and strategy. Not only does this information give you the freedom to market and use your technology, it gives you essential information about how to go about your marketing.

Market monitoring and analysis provides a clear understanding of your competition, which in turn lets you develop a strategy to place yourself in the market. This adds value to your business plan. Know the strength, strategies, weaknesses and market presence of all of your relevant competition, and summarize this information in a table within your plan.

Business and Trade Organizations

Various business organizations, trade groups and chambers of commerce can help you to better use and leverage your IP. They can advise and aid you in increasing your market competitiveness, provide leadership and guidance in economic issues, help you to attract new partners and customers, particularly if you are operating in a sector of innovation, and can offer new sources for income generation.

Another important source of help for any intellectual property issue is an outstanding IP attorney. The attorneys at UpCounsel carry many decades of combined experience in trademark, copyright, patent and all issues related to protecting intellectual property. Representing Harvard, Yale and other top law schools in the nation, they are among the top attorneys available in their specialized areas. Post your legal need in the UpCounsel marketplace to find the legal help you need to establish and protect the IP that's so vital to your business.

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Start » strategy, intellectual property : what is it and how do i protect it.

Small business owners in any industry can have intellectual property that needs protecting. Learn how to identify IP and ensure that it’s protected.

Businesses create intellectual property (IP) whenever they establish a proprietary process, product, logo, literary work, or other original creation. If your business has IP, there are certain legal protections you can and should put in place to safeguard it from imitation or misuse.

Here’s what every small business should know about IP and how to protect it.

Common reasons small businesses overlook IP protections

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not prioritizing IP protections, and some don’t think about it at all. Warren Tuttle, Co-Chair of the Creator Committee of the USIPA and Founder of Tuttle Innovation , attributes this willingness to overlook IP protections to a lack of awareness on the topic, a lack of resources to pay for legal services, and a lack of understanding of how IP can impact business.

“I think a lot of business owners are probably unaware of how they could be helping themselves,” Tuttle said. “We [the USIPA] just recently did a survey of consumers … and found that they don't really understand it a whole lot.”

While IP protections don’t apply to every business, Tuttle believes more entrepreneurs should be aware of what these protections entail and their benefits to a business owner.

“With [IP], you have now purchased… the right to defend yourself, [but] it can also be expensive,” Tuttle said. “You really have to be committed to it. And the [IP] has to be quite specific and really be of value to pursue it.”

[Read more: 12 Ways to Protect Your Startup’s Intellectual Property ]

Tips for keeping a business's IP protected

Following these steps can help ensure your IP remains protected in case of infringement.

Learn about the different types of IP

There are various types of IP, including:

• Patents: Patents can protect a company’s method or process for up to 20 years if the creation is deemed useful and novel.
• Trademarks: Trademarks protect brands — including their logos, taglines, and even company names — from imitation. To trademark a business in the United States and obtain commercial rights, you just need to be the first to use it. However, through the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO), you can register your trademark for stronger protection.
• Copyrights: Copyrights don’t require you to file anything; instead, it begins at the moment something is created. However, federally registering your copyrighted work allows for your business to have a stronger case of ownership, should infringement occur.
• Trade secrets: Businesses that have commercially valuable information that must remain confidential can help ensure this happens through nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and by limiting the number of people who have access to the information.

To determine what IP assets your business has, the USPTO released an IP Identifier tool that identifies IP using questions and real-life examples and offers protection solutions.

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not prioritizing IP protections, and some don’t think about it at all.

Get help filing for the IP protection(s) you need

To get started with IP protections, Tuttle suggests obtaining a provisional patent, or a temporary patent filling for the first 12 months. A provisional patent is an inexpensive way to protect your IP; depending on your knowledge of the patent process, you may even be able to file it on your own. However, he advised against going the DIY route long-term.

“Any type of real filing … requires a really good attorney,” Tuttle warned.

To choose an attorney, Tuttle suggests determining whether you’ll want to work with a big corporate firm or a smaller firm, as the latter is often less expensive. He recommended an organization called the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), which has member attorneys across America.

Stay up to date on IP news and trends with the USPTO and local organizations

To get the most out of IP, Tuttle recommended keeping current about general IP updates and protection. As a first step, you can visit uspto.gov and educate yourself on the patent system.

For inventors looking to connect with others, Tuttle highlighted some available resources.

“There are inventor groups or organizations locally all around the country,” he said. “You can do a quick search online [or] go on the USPTO’s website to find out where these clubs are … The United Inventors Organization also has a listing by map [where] you can put in your locale [to] show… where the nearest club is.”

[Read more: Can an Employee Own Intellectual Property? ]

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Licensing Intellectual Property 101: What Every Entrepreneur and Business Owner Should Know

Licensing intellectual property increases a company’s ability to grow its business, launch new products and services, and expand into a wider range of geographic markets. Companies are willing to pay substantial sums of money to use another company’s intellectual property in their own products and services. Licensing can therefore serve as an additional source of revenue for many companies.

Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are all forms of intellectual property that can be licensed. For example, patent licenses can be used for mechanical devices and systems, healthcare products and services, electronic hardware, computer software, chemical compositions, and business methods. Trademark and servicemark licenses can be used in merchandising various products and services that a company offers. Many of these licenses also incorporate rights of publicity. Copyright licenses can be used for artwork, books, music, photography, games, and software, among other matters. In the following sections, we will go through how to recognize and create an intellectual property license that your clients will ultimately thank you for.

Recognizing The Intellectual Property License

If a company is thinking of licensing its intellectual property, there are many considerations to keep in mind. First and foremost, a license is a contract. It is an agreement between the licensor (the person or company owning the intellectual property) and the licensee (the person or company wanting to use the intellectual property). The agreement outlines the appropriate actions each party is supposed to take with respect to the intellectual property and further summarizes what kind of legal action might be taken in the event that the licensee infringes on the licensor’s intellectual property. The license agreement is written in such a manner that an objective third party would be able to reasonably interpret and recognize the respective rights and obligations of the parties to the agreement.

Creating The Intellectual Property License

Prior to engaging in an intellectual property license with a potential licensee, a licensor must conduct due diligence to ensure that he is the true and sole owner of the intellectual property. Assistance from experienced counsel comes in particularly helpful here. Counsel can uncover, for example, whether there is another party which already or jointly owns the intellectual property and/or whether the proposed licensor has the applicable permissions to sublicense.

License agreements should be in written form, signed by both the licensor and the licensee. To create an intellectual property license, both parties must be open to negotiation, because it is unlikely that both parties will immediately see eye to eye on all aspects of the agreement. Keep in mind that the goal in entering a license agreement is for both parties to succeed and to continue to thrive in their respective business ventures, not for the parties to later sue each other, battling it out in court. The following are ten (10) top considerations licensors must bear in mind when proceeding through the negotiation phase:

• Costs (ex. Lump sum fee vs. recurring fees vs. royalties)
• Term (ex. Indefinitely vs. annually)
• Territory (ex. International vs. national vs. regional)
• Type (ex. Exclusive vs. non-exclusive)
• Rights (ex. Reproduction, distribution, adaptations)
• Assignment of rights
• Infringement
• Indemnification
• Governing laws
• Dispute resolution

This is not an all-inclusive list of provisions and each of the above are modifiable in their own rights. The licensing of intellectual property is a delicate process and must be treated as such. Because license agreements are usually long-term business partnerships, the licensor and licensee should also consider whether it is appropriate to enter into a non-disclosure agreement to protect and not misuse information it considers valuable, confidential, and not of the public domain.

Creating a respectable license agreement sets the initial boundaries for both the licensor and the licensee. Ultimately, licensors are responsible for enforcing their own license agreements and must pay attention to the licensee’s use (and a third party’s use) of intellectual property so as to not wreak havoc in the future. It cannot be overstated that license agreements are long-term relationships, so both sides must be flexible and understanding through the negotiation process in order to get a fair deal. Working with an intellectual property professional to review the license agreement and thoroughly spell out which party is responsible for what will diminish the potential for a lawsuit and burned bridges.

Heather Bowen, Esq. serves as Intellectual Property & Licensing Counsel to an international healthcare technology company headquartered in New York. There, she has helped grow and protect the company's intellectual property & licensing portfolio, negotiated and reviewed domestic licensing agreements with large health information and service firms, and strategically counseled internal legal, finance, sales, and marketing teams on monetizing intellectual property while expanding company offerings. All the while, Heather has continued to stay abreast of developments in intellectual property law through publications as well as her effective leadership and involvement in committees of the American Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the International Trademark Association, and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. 

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Intellectual Property

By Entrepreneur Staff

Intellectual Property Definition:

The ownership of ideas. Unlike tangible assets to your business such as computers or your office, intellectual property is a collection of ideas and concepts.

There are only three ways to protect intellectual property in the United States: through the use patents, trademarks or copyrights. A patent applies to a specific product design; a trademark to a name, phrase or symbol; and a copyright to a written document. All three methods have limitations--there's no one perfect way to protect an idea.

Copyright Protection

• literary works
• musical works, including any accompanying words
• dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• pantomimes and choreographic works
• pictorial, graphic and sculptural works
• motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• sound recordings
• architectural works
• computer programs (sometimes the graphical user interface) and websites

Copyright protection gives the copyright holder the exclusive right to copy the work, modify it (that is, create "derivative works"), and distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

Ideas or concepts do not have copyright protection. Copyright protects the expression of the idea, but not the ideas themselves. For example, if I ask you what a chair is, you get a picture in your head; the picture I get in my head is different from the picture you get in your head and probably also different from the picture Buffy gets in her head. These are the "ideas" of what a chair is. However, if you were to draw the chair you envisioned in your head or use words to describe that chair, it's an "expression" of the idea--and that's what's protected by copyright.

Generally, the only protection for ideas and concepts is through trade secret law and/or confidentiality agreements, which provide a contractual remedy for misuse or disclosure of the idea.

• Your work must be novel. This means it must not be known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication here or abroad, or in public use or for sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent.
• Your work must be non-obvious. This means it must not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the pertinent art as it existed when the invention was made.
• Your work must be useful. This means that it must have current, significant, beneficial use as process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter or improvements to one of these. According to the Patent Office: "The word 'process' is defined by law as a process, act or method, and primarily includes industrial or technical processes. The term 'machine' used in the statute needs no explanation. The term 'manufacture' refers to articles that are made, and includes all manufactured articles. The term 'composition of matter' relates to chemical compositions and may include mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical compounds. These classes of subject matter taken together include practically everything which is made by man and the processes for making the products."

Patent protection requires full public disclosure of the work in detail and therefore precludes maintaining any trade secret protection in the same work.

A trademark can be registered in three ways:

• By filing a "use" application after the mark has been used.
• By filing an "intent to use" application if the mark has not yet been used.
• In certain circumstances in which a foreign application exists, you can rely on that.

The (TM) mark may be used immediately next to your mark. The ® registration symbol may only be used when the mark is registered with the PTO. It is unlawful to use this symbol with your mark before receiving an issued registration from the PTO.

What qualities make for a strong trademark? The cardinal rule is that a mark must be distinctive. The more distinctive it is, the easier your trademark will be to enforce. This is why so many trademarked products have unique spellings.

Trademark rights last indefinitely if the company continues to use the mark to identify its goods or services. When the mark is no longer being used, the registration is terminated. The initial term of federal trademark registration is 10 years, with 10-year renewal terms.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets refer to items such as recipes that are unique and provide a business with a competitive advantage, but which cannot be safeguarded under current forms of idea protection such as copyright, trademark or patent. The best form of protection for these items is to keep them a secret. One of the most famous and best-kept trade secrets is the formula for Coca-Cola.

The best way to secure the information for a trade secret is to restrict access to the secret and have individuals and companies sign nondisclosure agreements with you should you enter into a relationship with them which will require them to know some aspects of the secret. If someone independently develops or reverse-engineers your trade secret, there's nothing you can do. If someone does leak it, you can sue for theft. Suing, however, cannot stop the person from using the leaked information. So although you may get money from the suit, you lose the larger potential profits you could have made from the idea. Still, if your luck holds and your trade secret remains secret, royalty income from it can last significantly longer than the patent period.

More from Inventing

Exclusive legal rights that protect works of authorship, composition or artistry. A copyright protects the publication, production or sale of the rights to a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or computer program or to the use of a commercial print or label.

An object, process or technique that displays an element of novelty. In certain circumstances, legal protection may be granted to an invention by way of a patent.

A form of protection that provides a person or legal entity with exclusive rights for making, using or selling a concept or invention and excludes others from doing the same for the duration of the patent

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Intellectual property: What it is, how to protect it

Safeguard your company’s ideas, trade secrets, and branding.

As a business owner, you manage many assets on a daily basis, but you may be overlooking an important one: intellectual property.

Your intellectual property includes the intangible assets you create for your business, such as names, designs, and automated processes. And just like tangible possessions — such as supplies, equipment, buildings, and inventory — your intellectual property contributes to the value and success of your business. So it needs to be monitored and protected.

Here’s a breakdown of common types of intellectual property and tips on how you can protect these assets.

Trademarks are the words, phrases, and symbols that differentiate your brand from others in your industry. In order to qualify as trademarks, they must be distinctive and used in commerce to sell or promote a product or service.

• Company and product names
• Slogans and taglines
• Logos and symbols
• Brand colors

How you can protect them : Trademarks may be registered with the federal government or your state government. Federally registered trademarks protect your rights throughout the U.S., while state-registered trademarks protect your rights only within the state’s territory.

While you’re not required to register a trademark, having a registered trademark can make it easier to challenge anyone who infringes on your trademark rights.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides information on how to register your trademarks at the state or national level.

Federal trademarks last as long as you use them with the public to promote your goods or services. Trademark applications generally cost between $250 and $350 per class of goods or services. To see if your desired trademark is available, you can begin with a general internet search or by checking the USPTO website . A trademark lawyer can help you do a more detailed search to determine the availability of your desired trademark.

A copyright grants you legal rights to anything you create that expresses or embodies an idea. It gives you exclusive rights to copy, distribute, reproduce, display, and license the work.

• Architectural designs
• Graphic arts
• Video and sound recordings
• Books and blog articles

How you can protect them : Like trademarks, you have some rights to your original work even if you don’t register the copyright at the U.S. Copyright Office . However, registering can give you more leverage if a case ever goes to court. For instance, if an employee writes an article or takes a photo within the scope of their employment, the employer is the copyright owner automatically. However, an independent contractor who writes an article or takes a photo will be the copyright owner of that asset unless they transfer the copyright through a written contract. As with trademarks, registering them officially can give you more leverage in the event of a dispute.

A copyright empowers you to profit from your creative assets. You can sell your copyrighted assets and lease them in exchange for license fees and royalties.

A new copyright owned by an individual typically lasts 70 years after the death of the copyright owner. A copyright owned by a limited liability company (LLC) or other legal entity will last 95 years from the first date the work was used with the public. You can file to register a copyright with the United States Copyright Office . The current online application fee for basic registrations is $45 to $65.

Patents are granted for new, useful inventions, and they will give you the right to prevent others from making, using, or selling your invention.

• Utility patents : for tangible inventions, such as products, machines, devices, and composite materials, as well as new and useful processes
• Design patents : the ornamental designs on manufactured products
• Plant patents : new varieties of plants

How you can protect them : Patent applications can be filed in the United States with the USPTO , and internationally in the patent office of the applicable country or region. U.S. utility and plant patents have a term of 20 years, while design patents have a term of 15 years. Patents require a nonrefundable filing fee, along with issue, service, and maintenance fees. This can add up to thousands of dollars, but some small businesses qualify for discounts.

Before submitting your patent application, you can (but are not required to) search existing patents and published patent applications to see if your concept has comparatively novel features. A patent lawyer can help you do a more thorough search to determine the availability of patent protection for your concept. They can also help you investigate whether any third parties have patents that could prevent you from bringing your product or service to market.

Trade secrets

A trade secret is a piece of confidential business information whose secrecy gives you an advantage over your competitors.

• Methods, techniques, and processes

How you can protect them : Though trade secrets cannot be registered, they can be protected in other ways. For instance, to keep valuable trade secrets safe, businesses use a variety of methods, including internal policies that restrict access to the trade secret, employment agreements, and non-disclosure agreements. You can take legal action against those who misappropriate your trade secrets.

Get started: Put protections in your business plan

Intellectual property rights can help you establish your brand identity, profit off your unique assets, and prevent others from using your creations. Making them part of your business plan can help ensure nothing’s missed.

Start by listing all your intellectual property assets, then consider which assets need to be protected. Budget for the time and money you’ll need to properly secure the rights to your creations, and outline how you plan to protect your intellectual assets. Finally, set deadlines for research, filing, and finalizing these steps and work toward them as you would any other business goal.

As you build and protect your company’s value, Wells Fargo is here to assist. Explore our helpful products and services , and make an appointment today.

Sources: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office , U.S. Copyright Office Fees , U.S. Copyright Office FAQ

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Four Types of Intellectual Property for Businesses

Copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets – four types of intellectual properties.

If you are a business owner, you should familiarize yourself with the four types of intellectual property, otherwise known as IP.  We speak with many entrepreneurs who don’t know where to begin when it comes to protecting their ideas and inventions.  They need this information frequently so we decided to create a quick and easy guide to educate them. It was popular so we decided to post it to our blog.  Let us know if you found this useful and if there are any other guides you would like us to make in the comment section below.

If you feel you need to speak with a lawyer directly, call Spence PC directly at 1-312-404-8882.

Four Types of IP

• Trade Secrets

At Risk Businesses

When your business is young, it is at risk of having its ideas “borrowed” by competitors. Protect yourself, your business, and your ideas by following this guide.

Type 1 – Copyrights

What are Copyrights? According to Copyright.Gov ‘s Guide to copyrights, “Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S.Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,”” Copyrights protect writing, pictures, music, art, and other forms of intellectual works. What this means for you is that if you wrote something, or created a piece of work that you don’t want people to reuse without your permission, you have the right to copyright that work. Now, if people want to use, reuse, or re purpose your work, they must first contact you to use it, attribute you as the owner, and use it for purposes you deem appropriate. There is an exception to this rule, that is, Fair Use . If someone wants to use a portion of your work for educational, parody, commenting, or news purposes they can.

Take away : Make sure you copyright your work and your website while providing people a way to contact you so they can use your work with your permission. Click the link for Copyright.Gov’s frequently asked questions to learn how to copyright your work .

Want to know more? Watch this Copryights Basics video by CommonSense.Org  and  Michele Auxier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKTNtqaSTrY

Type 2 – Patents

What are Patents? According to the United States Patent Office , “A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor”. Generally this patent lasts for 20 years from when the inventor attempts to patent their invention by filing with the US Government. The list of things that can patented is fairly lengthy and open to interpretation but it covers anyone who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent,”.

For a business owner or an inventor this means that if you found a new way to make something or discovered a new product you’d like to take to market, you would want to first patent the idea so no one can take the idea and claim it as their own. For instance, if you have a revolutionary water bottle that you feel would benefit the masses, you should protect this intellectual property by filing with patent office that the idea is unique and your own. If the government agrees that the idea is your own, unique, and is useful you will be awarded a patent to protect your right to the concept. This then gives you the ability to produce the concept, sell it, or bring the concept to investors without worrying about them stealing your ideas.

However, a word of caution, if you share your patented ideas, there is a risk that others will reverse engineer your concept. Reverse engineering is when competitors take apart an object or idea to understand how it functions with the goal of enhancing or modifying the object in order to replicate it. Making enough variations to the original concept can result in a ‘unique’ idea that your competitors can then patent as their own idea. Companies can avoid compensating you for your patent idea and claim these ‘new’ versions of your idea as their own. This frequently happens in the technology industry between companies like Samsung and Apple .

Take away:  Protect your ideas and inventions with patents before sharing them with the world.

Type 3 – Trademarks

What are Trademarks? According to the USPTO ,  a Trademark is 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. ” For instance, if your company name, a logo, or your company tagline can me trademarked. The trademark serves as a brand identifier for your business or your products. Images, slogans, and colors can all be trademarked. For instance, Tiffany Blue  is a trademarked color that is used by Tiffany & Co. in promotional materials as well as boxes, bags, and more.

Words, phrases, and pictures are generally the most common intellectual properties to be trademarked, however other distinguishing features can also be registered for your company. For example, Coca-Cola bottles’ have a trademarked shape, Dell and Ford have trademarked their family names, and even smells. These are known as non-conventional trademarks  but are used in every industry to protect IP. It is important to protect these business assets, as trademarks give business owners the tools to prevent competitors from taking advantage of the goodwill that one’s brand has accumulated over the years.

If you feel that you have been the victim of copyright or trademark infringement, an unregistered trademark provides limited protection.

Take Away:  It is best to register trademark s at your local and national government office responsible for trademark registration. Remember, a registered trademark must be renewed regularly to keep it “alive” and to protect your IP.

Type 4 – Trade Secrets

What are Trade Secrets? Generally, any piece of confidential corporate information which gives any business a competitive advantage can be considered a trade secret. For instance, Coca-Cola’s secret formula could be considered a trade secret. Now, if I created a soda company and produced identical soda to coca-cola, this would be an infringement of Coke’s trade secret. This is a general example but trade secrets can even defined as distribution methods (Walmart), Sales methods, consumer information, ad campaigns and strategies, list of vendors, list of clients, and production processes.  Generally, trade secrets are leaked through corporate (industrial) espionage, breach of contract, or something as simple as leaving your prototype iPhone at a bar .

A trade secret must be designated as such before it is leaked. One cannot simply say “I have a secret”. Use Nondisclosure agreements and designate information as trade secrets in contracts when dealing with partner companies and employees. There are other ways to designate information as a trade secret, to learn more, you should contact Spence-PC .

Take Away:  Protect your trade secrets. Keep employees on a need to know basis. If you’re letting an employee go, make sure they don’t have access to your client files after they have been terminated. To learn more about protecting your company and your trade secrets from corporate espionage check out this article from Inc.

The post Four Types of Intellectual Property for Businesses appeared first on SpencePC .

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What Is Intellectual Property?

Understanding intellectual property, special considerations, intellectual property infringement, avoiding intellectual property infringement.

• Intellectual Property FAQS

The Bottom Line

• Corporate Finance

What Is Intellectual Property, and What Are Some Types?

Investopedia / Daniel Fishel

Intellectual property is a broad categorical description for the set of intangible assets owned and legally protected by a company or individual from outside use or implementation without consent. An intangible asset is a non-physical asset that a company or person owns.

The concept of intellectual property relates to the fact that certain products of human intellect should be afforded the same protective rights that apply to physical property, which are called tangible assets . Most developed economies have legal measures in place to protect both forms of property.

Key Takeaways

• Intellectual property is an umbrella term for a set of intangible assets or assets that are not physical in nature.
• Intellectual property is owned and legally protected by a person or company from outside use or implementation without consent.
• It can consist of many types of assets, including trademarks, patents, and copyrights.
• Intellectual property infringement occurs when a third party engages in the unauthorized use of the asset.
• Legal protections for most intellectual property expire after some time but last forever for others.

Intellectual property is a category of assets that are intangible. This means that they cannot be held and don't necessarily have a physical presence. These assets are created using human intellect. Intellectual property can take many forms and includes things like artwork, symbols, logos, brand names, and designs, among others.

Companies are diligent when it comes to identifying and protecting intellectual property because it holds such high value in today's increasingly knowledge-based economy. Also, producing value intellectual property requires heavy investments in brainpower and time of skilled labor . This translates into heavy investments by organizations and individuals that should not be accessed with no rights by others.

Extracting value from intellectual property and preventing others from deriving value from it is an important responsibility of any company. Although it's an intangible asset, intellectual property can be far more valuable than a company's physical assets. It can represent a competitive advantage and, as a result, is fiercely guarded and protected by the companies that own the property.

Many forms of intellectual property cannot be listed on the balance sheet as assets since there aren't specific accounting principles to value each asset. However, the value of the property tends to be reflected in the price of the stock since market participants are aware of the existence of the intellectual property.

Some intangible assets, such as patents, are recorded as property because they have an expiration date. These assets are recognized by a numerical value through the process of amortization. Amortization is an accounting method that decreases the value of an intangible asset over a set period of time. This process helps the company to reduce its income by expensing a set amount each year for tax purposes as the useful life of the intangible asset winds down.

For example, a patent might only have 20 years before it's registered as public domain. A company would assign a total value to the patent. Each year for 20 years, the patent would be expensed or amortized by the same amount by dividing the total value by 20 years. Each year the amortized asset amount would reduce the company's net income or profit for tax purposes. However, intellectual property that is considered to have a perpetual life, such as a trademark, is not amortized since it doesn't expire.

Global patent filings increased in 2021 from the previous year by 3.6% to 3.4 million. Trademark registration jumped 5.5% during that same period to 18.1 million new filings.

Types of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property can consist of many types of intangibles, and some of the most common are listed below.

A patent is a property right for an investor that's typically granted by a government agency, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent allows the inventor exclusive rights to the invention, which could be a design, process, improvement, or physical invention such as a machine.

Technology and software companies often have patents for their designs. For example, the patent for the personal computer was filed in 1980 by Steve Jobs and three other colleagues at Apple ( AAPL ).

Copyrights provide authors and creators of original material the exclusive right to use, copy, or duplicate their material. Authors of books have their works copyrighted as do musical artists. A copyright also states that the original creators can grant  anyone authorization through a licensing agreement to use the work.

A trademark is a symbol, phrase, or insignia that is recognizable and represents a product that legally separates it from other products. A trademark is exclusively assigned to a company, meaning the company owns the trademark so that no others may use or copy it.

A trademark is often associated with a company's brand. For example, the logo and brand name of Coca-Cola is owned by the Coca-Cola Company ( KO ).

A franchise is a license that a company, individual, or party–called the franchisee–purchases allowing them to use a company's–the franchisor–name, trademark, proprietary knowledge, and processes.

The franchisee is typically a small business owner or entrepreneur who operates the store or franchise. The license allows the franchisee to sell a product or provide a service under the company's name. In return, the franchisor is paid a start-up fee and ongoing  licensing fees by the franchisee. Examples of companies that use the franchise business model include United Parcel Service ( UPS ) and McDonald's ( MCD ).

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is a company's process or practice that is not public information, which provides an economic benefit or advantage to the company or holder of the trade secret. Trade secrets must be actively protected by the company and are typically the result of a company's research and development (R&D) , which is why some employers require the signing of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) .

Examples of trade secrets could be a design, pattern, recipe, formula, or proprietary process. Trade secrets are used to create a business model that differentiates the company's offerings to its customers by providing a competitive advantage.

Digital Assets

Digital assets are also increasingly recognized as IP. These would include proprietary software code or algorithms, and online digital content.

Attached to intellectual property are certain rights, known as intellectual property rights. These are rights that cannot be infringed upon by those without authorization to use them. IPRs give owners the ability to bar others from recreating, mimicking, and exploiting their work.

• Patent infringement occurs when a legally protected patent is used by another person or company without permission. Patents filed before June 8, 1995, were valid for 17 years, whereas patents filed after this date are valid for 20 years. After the expiration date, the details of the patent are made public.
• Copyright violations occur when an unauthorized party recreates all or a portion of an original work, such as a work of art, music, or a novel. The duplicated content need not be an exact replica of the original to qualify as an infringement.
• Trademark infringement occurs when an unauthorized party uses a licensed trademark or a mark resembling the licensed trademark. For example, a competitor might use a mark similar to its rival's to disrupt business and attract their customer base. Also, businesses in unrelated industries may use identical or similar marks in an effort to capitalize on other companies' strong brand images.

Trade secrets are often protected by NDAs. When a party to the agreement discloses all or parts of a trade secret to uninterested parties, they have violated the agreement and infringed upon the trade secret. It is possible to be guilty of trade secret infringement when an NDA is not present.

Penalties for intellectual property infringement range from fines to prison sentences.

Infringement is often done unwittingly. To avoid being sued for infringement on intellectual property, make sure that your business is not using copyrighted or trademarked material, and be sure your brand or logo is not too similar to that of others that it could reasonably mislead somebody to think it was the other brand.

It's also a good idea to do a patent search to ensure that any ideas are your own. If not, you may be able to find ways to license them through the proper channels. There are IP lawyers who specialize in this process to make sure that you are not using anybody else's protected intellectual assets.

If you hire somebody to do creative work for you or your company, make sure the contract explicitly states that any creative work that is generated becomes the property of the company and not the person you hired.

Example of Intellectual Property

There was a widely publicized intellectual property case in 2017 in which a company called Waymo sued Uber over alleged stealing and implementation of technology relating to Waymo's self-driving car program.

The plans for the technology, although not yet completely viable, constituted significant intellectual property for Waymo. When they alleged that Uber had obtained their intellectual property, they were able to take action through the court system to attempt to keep Uber from utilizing the information to enhance their own self-driving car program.

What Are the 4 Main Types of Intellectual Property?

The four main types of intellectual property are patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

Who Owns Intellectual Property?

The creator of a work is generally deemed to be its owner. However, intellectual property ownership can be determined differently for different types of property and under varying circumstances. For example, if work is created for an employer, the employer is the owner of that intellectual property. Also, ownership rights can also be transferred to other parties.

What Is the Purpose of Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property can be used for various reasons, such as branding and marketing, as well as to protect assets that give a competitive advantage.

Assets come in many shapes and sizes. But some don't have a physical presence. Often called intangible assets, intellectual property holds just as much value for corporations as tangible ones. Logos and brand names, which can be patented and trademarked, help consumers recognize popular companies and their products. That's why it's important for companies to take the necessary steps to protect these assets so they aren't misused or infringed upon by others.

WIPO. " IP Facts and Figures ."

United States Patent and Trademark Office. " Patent Basics ."

Google Patents. " USDD268584 United States "

Copyright.gov. " What Is Copyright? "

United States Patent and Trademark Office. " What Is a Trademark? "

International Trade Administration. " How Long Does Patent, Trademark or Copyright Protection Last? "

Dennemeyer. " What Is Intellectual Property 'Theft' and How to Avoid It? "

LegalMatch. " Patent Duration ."

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Intellectual Property Explained

5 min. read

Updated January 5, 2024

Do you have intellectual property? A creative work or invention that could be legally protected and provide a competitive advantage for your business?

It’s worth taking the time to find out if you’re unsure. 

The worst thing you can do is not know if you have IP, fail to protect it, and lose it. 

Let’s explore the basics of intellectual property and how you can protect it.

*Disclaimer: This content is intended to be general information and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney before making any intellectual property or other legal decisions.

• What is intellectual property?

A thought or notion floating around your head may be a great idea for a future product or service, but it isn’t yet intellectual property.

In the simplest terms, intellectual property (IP) pertains to things you create with your mind; not the ideas themselves, but the expression of the ideas. Names, designs, logos, automated processes, software, books, articles, music, etc., are all potential IPs. 

For a business, IP is an asset. It provides tangible value like equipment, inventory, or other physical possessions. And like your physical assets, IP should be monitored and protected differently.

There are four primary ways to protect your IP:  

• Trademarks (including design rights)
• Trade secrets

Intellectual property mistakes to avoid

Avoid common missteps such as thinking you don’t have IP, falsifying dates, or believing that registering IP isn’t a big deal.

How to protect IP when outsourcing software development

You may need to work with outside vendors or partners to get your business up and running. But how do you protect your intellectual property if it circulates outside your business?

• What is a trademark?

A trademark is the words, numbers, symbols, or unique packaging that distinguishes your brand.

Once registered, you can use the registered ® logo to notify the public that you own the symbol or name.

In the United States, you can also mark a trademark with a TM symbol, which means you claim an unregistered trademark. 

If another company uses your trademark, you can sue for trademark infringement or take legal cease-and-desist action against them. If the trademark is not registered, the lawsuit will be more difficult.

Why trademarking is important

Learn the importance of conducting a trademark search, why different trademarks matter, and what it means if denied.

How to register for a trademark

Learn how to apply for a trademark on your own or with the assistance of an attorney.

Domain names and trademark law

You’ll want to review outstanding trademarks before selecting a domain name. Otherwise, you may unintentionally run into legal conflicts.

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• What is a patent?

Patents protect new inventions and cover how things work, what they do, how they do it, what they are made of, and how they are made. 

Patent protection is an act of the federal government and has to do with interstate commerce. Once a patent is approved, it provides you with exclusive rights to produce a product or use a process for up to 20 years.

If someone profits from claims to an invention you have duly registered with the U.S. patent office—your patent protection allows you to sue. 

Should you patent your idea?

Learn what qualities make an idea patentable and how to know if it’s the right time to file.

What to know before filing a patent

Become familiar with the patent application process before you file for a patent on your own.

How to profit from your patent

How do you make money from a patent? Starting a business is the obvious choice, but there are actually several other ways to use your patent for a payday.

Large corporation patent strategies to use

By paying attention to the market, exploring broader protection, and investing in internal legal roles—you can find the same success using patents as a large and established corporation.

How to file patents in multiple countries

If you’re selling internationally, you likely need additional patents to protect your business outside of the U.S. Learn the basics of filing for and landing patents in several countries.

• What is copyright?

Copyright protects original works of authorship like books, songs, movies, art, photographs, etc. 

Copyright protects the actual expression of ideas, not the idea itself. The copyright terms can vary but generally last at least 50 years after the author’s death.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a visual copyright notice should contain three elements:

• The symbol  ©, the word “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”
• The year of first publication
• The name of the copyright owner
• What are trade secrets?

Trade secrets Protect confidential and proprietary information like customer lists, manufacturing processes, secret ingredients, etc. Trade secret protection lasts as long as steps are taken to maintain secrecy.

How to protect trade secrets

Physical security is essential if you have material qualifying as a trade secret or a prototype you are considering patenting.

Keep any sensitive documents like recipes or customer lists locked away in a safe or other secure storage option, not lying around on a desk for any enterprising thief to find. For any prototypes you may have, ensure that anything you don’t want stolen isn’t left in plain sight.

Additional legal steps to protect your business

Intellectual property can provide you with a competitive advantage when starting a business. So, don’t miss out on protecting your work, brand, or innovations by not knowing how to identify and register IP. 

Contact an attorney for professional guidance if you’re unsure about any part of the registration process. 

Want to learn more about how to legally protect your business? Check out these resources:

• Small business insurance guide
• How and where to obtain licenses and permits
• Understand your tax obligations

Clarify your ideas and understand how to start your business with LivePlan

Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.

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What Are The Four Basic Types of Intellectual Property Rights?

• May 16, 2019
• Business Law

When a business or an individual has an idea that they want to protect from being used by others without their permission, it is best to seek legal protection of that intellectual property.

By seeking property rights over your intellectual property — property that is a creation of the mind, such as an invention, symbol, or even a name.

You establish rightful ownership and prevent the unlawful use of your property.

What’s more, establishing intellectual property rights can help to fuel the economy and stimulate further innovation.

There are four main types of intellectual property protections , reviewed below. Work with an experienced intellectual property attorney to learn more about steps to take to secure the necessary protection for your intellectual property.

Four Types of Intellectual Property Protections

There are four types of intellectual property rights and protections (although multiple types of intellectual property itself). Securing the correct protection for your property is important, which is why consulting with a lawyer is a must. The four categories of intellectual property protections include:

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets refer to specific, private information that is important to a business because it gives the business a competitive advantage in its marketplace. If a trade secret is acquired by another company, it could harm the original holder.

Examples of trade secrets include recipes for certain foods and beverages (like Mrs. Fields’ cookies or Sprite), new inventions, software, processes, and even different marketing strategies. 

When a person or business holds a trade secret protection, others cannot copy or steal the idea. In order to establish information as a “trade secret,” and to incur the legal protections associated with trade secrets, businesses must actively behave in a manner that demonstrates their desire to protect the information.

Trade secrets are protected without official registration; however, an owner of a trade secret whose rights are breached–i.e. someone steals their trade secret–may ask a court to ask against that individual and prevent them from using the trade secret.

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As defined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a patent is a type of limited-duration protection that can be used to protect inventions (or discoveries) that are new, non-obvious, and useful, such a new process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter.

When a property owner holds a patent, others are prevented, under law, from offering for sale, making, or using the product.

Copyrights and patents are not the same things, although they are often confused. A copyright is a type of intellectual property protection that protects original works of authorship , which might include literary works, music, art, and more. Today, copyrights also protect computer software and architecture.

Copyright protections are automatic ; once you create something, it is yours. However, if your rights under copyright protections are infringed and you wish to file a lawsuit, then registration of your copyright will be necessary.

Finally, the fourth type of intellectual property protection is a trademark protection. Remember, patents are used to protect inventions and discoveries and copyrights are used to protect expressions of ideas and creations, like art and writing.

Trademarks, then, refer to phrases, words, or symbols that distinguish the source of a product or services of one party from another. For example, the Nike symbol–which nearly all could easily recognize and identify–is a type of trademark.

While patents and copyrights can expire, trademark rights come from the use of the trademark, and therefore can be held indefinitely. Like a copyright, registration of a trademark is not required, but registering can offer additional advantages.

Consult with an Intellectual Property Attorney to Learn More

Understanding the different types of intellectual property and the four categories of intellectual property protections can be confusing, and actually registering for those protections can be overwhelming. Indeed, businesses often have more to worry about that the particulars of a patent or other intellectual property protection requirement.

When you call our intellectual property attorneys at the offices of BrewerLong, we will handle all of the elements associated with your intellectual property protection, ranging from identifying the type of intellectual property protection you need to be managing all documentation and paperwork to secure that protection.

We can also help your business to take action if you believe that another party has breached your intellectual property rights.

To schedule a consultation with our lawyers, please call us directly or send us a message. Our Florida business lawyers are ready to start advising your business on its intellectual property rights today.

This blog post is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis as of the date of publication. We disclaim any duty to update or correct any information contained in this blog post, including errors, even if we are notified about them. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this blog post, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. We will not be liable for damages of any kind arising from or in connection with your use of or reliance on this blog post, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, and punitive damages. You agree to use this blog post at your own risk. Regarding your particular circumstances, we recommend that you consult your own legal counsel–hopefully BrewerLong.

Michael Long

Michael Long, a distinguished Business and Litigation Attorney at BrewerLong, brings a unique blend of tenacity and insight to his practice, honed from his time as a decorated combat veteran in the Marines. Specializing in complex litigation, Michael adeptly navigates the intricacies of business break-ups, professional liability, and a wide array of disputes encompassing tax, trust, real estate, contract, intellectual property, and loan issues. His expertise extends to business counseling, where he skillfully handles commercial contracts, company creation, intellectual property challenges, and more. Michael’s approach is holistic; he leverages his transactional and litigation experience to foresee and tactically address both immediate and long-term client needs, ensuring practical, cost-effective solutions that maximize benefits while minimizing risks. His commitment to excellence is evident in his affiliations with prestigious organizations like the American Legion, Central Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce, and the Orange County Bar Association, among others. He’s a committed advocate, driven by a passion to deliver results and justice for his clients.

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Getting Business Licenses & Protecting Intellectual Property

September 30, 2019.

Table of Contents

What Licenses or Permits Do I Need?

Final thoughts.

If you’ve been following our Guide to Launching Your Business series, let’s see what you’ve accomplished thus far. You’ve written a solid business plan ? You’ve come up with an inspiring business name ? You’ve registered the business structure that provides you with the flexibility, liability protection and tax advantages you need? You’ve acquired the necessary federal and state tax ID numbers ? If you answered all of these questions with a resounding YES, it’s time to put your marketing plan into action, right?   Well, not quite.

Depending on the state you’ll operate your business from and your industry, there may be federal, state, and local licenses and/or permits you’ll need to obtain before you can officially open for business. We’ll take a look at the licenses and permits that are most often required. 

Next, we’ll discuss how to use trademarks, patents, and copyrights to protect your unique business ideas. You put a lot of thought into choosing the ideal name for your business so you’ll want to protect it and any other intellectual property.

To ensure that your business is off to a good start, don’t overlook the importance of getting the licenses and permits required for your location and industry. You don’t want to run afoul of the federal or local government. Doing so could have serious consequences and even lead to your business being shut down.

All businesses need some type of license or permit to operate legally. And, depending on the business’s location and the nature of the business (industry), some will need to apply for multiple licenses/permits. Because license and permit requirements vary from state to state and differ among industries, it’s not possible to provide an exhaustive list.

However, the following list should give you an idea of the types of licenses and permits that are most often required by federal and local governments. Keep in mind that not all listed will apply to your business. You’ll need to contact your state and local governments for the specific requirements for your business.

• General business license – Any business type, including home-based businesses, must obtain a city or county business license. This license grants you the right to operate a business in the city or county you’re located in. The city planning or zoning department will ensure that your area is zoned for the purpose you intend to use it for. If you’re operating your business from home, some residential neighborhoods may restrict business use of the home.
• Home occupation permit – If you’re planning to operate a business from your home , you may need to obtain a home occupation permit. In some residential areas, commercial activity is regulated to ensure that the activity doesn’t create significant traffic, noise or other environmental concerns such as dust or odors.
• DBA license – If you’ll operate your business under a name other than your legal name, your local government (often the county) may require you to register the “doing business as (DBA)” name.
• Federal and State tax ID numbers – Sole proprietorships and single-member limited liability companies (LLCs) that don’t have employees aren’t required to apply for a federal employer identification number (EIN). All other business structures must apply for an EIN . Your state may require that you also obtain a state tax ID number.
• Sales tax permit – If your business involves the selling of taxable goods or services, your state may require you to collect sales tax from your customers. For this, you’ll need a sales tax permit, also known as a seller’s permit or certificate of authority . This would apply to online businesses as well. The definition of a taxable service varies by state so you’ll need to research the rules that apply to the state in which you operate.
• Zoning permit – If you plan to operate your business in an area that local zoning regulations have determined isn’t zoned for that particular business type, you may need to obtain a variance or conditional-use permit. To get a variance, you’ll need to present your case before your city’s planning commission.
• Fire department permit – If your business uses flammable materials or if customers will be on the premises, you may need to get a permit from your local fire department. In some areas, you’ll need to get the permit before you can open for business. Other areas don’t require a permit but you’ll need to pass periodic inspections to ensure that you’re meeting fire safety regulations.
• Health department permit – If your business involves preparing and handling food either directly (as in a restaurant) or in a wholesale capacity (sold to retailers or restaurants), you’ll need a permit from your county’s health department. The cost varies depending on your business’s size and the type of equipment you own. Your facilities will be inspected before the permit can be issued.
• Air & water pollution control permit – If, in the course of your business, you burn any materials, discharge environmental contaminants into the air or waterways, or use products that produce gas, you may have to obtain a special permit from your local air and water pollution department.
• Construction permit – Environmental protection regulations may also require you to get approval before making any structural changes to your place of business. You may need to obtain a building or construction permit from your local agency.
• Sign permit – Some localities have sign ordinances that restrict the type of sign you can place outside of your business (size, location, lighting) while some require that you obtain a permit before installing a sign.
• Occupational/Professional licenses — Some states require that businesses in certain professions or industries (i.e. medical care, child care, tax preparation, auto repair, cosmetology, legal services) obtain a special license in order to operate.
• License or permit for federally regulated activity – If your business involves an activity that’s regulated by a federal agency (i.e. aviation, alcohol, broadcasting, firearms, mining), a license or permit may be required. Check this list of commercial activities that generally require a federal license or permit.
• License or permit for state regulated activity – If your business involves an activity that’s regulated by a state agency (i.e. lottery tickets, gasoline, firearms, alcohol), a license or permit may be required. Note that the sale of alcohol and firearms is regulated at both the state and federal levels.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is defined as “a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc.”   Your intellectual property can include something you’ve invented, your catchy business name , or software you’ve developed. 

Trademarks, copyrights, and patents protect different types of intellectual property. Whether you need to apply for a patent, copyright or trademark will depend on the type of intellectual property you need to protect. Let’s take a look at these three protection methods and discuss what each protects and what rights each bestows on the owner.

Copyright is the exclusive right given to the creator of a creative work to reproduce the work. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. For example, if you’ve developed a software program, the actual program is protected once it’s actually produced but not the idea of writing the program.

What Does a Copyright Protect?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects both published and unpublished original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form of expression including: 

• Literary works such as poetry and novels
• Musical works such as compositions, including any accompanying words
• Artistic works such as paintings and sculptures
• Dramatic works such as movies and plays, including any accompanying music
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Architectural works

Original works of authorship are works that are independently created by human authors and that involve at least a minimal amount of creativity. A work is considered to be “fixed” when it’s captured (either directly by the author or under the author’s authority) in a sufficiently permanent medium such that it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short period. In the United States, copyright protection begins from the time the original work of authorship is fixed.

What’s Not Protected by Copyright?

Copyright doesn’t protect:

• Ideas, systems, processes, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.
• Works that aren’t fixed in a tangible form (i.e. choreographic work that hasn’t been recorded or notated)
• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans
• Familiar symbols or designs
• Listings of ingredients or contents
• Variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring

What Rights Does a Copyright Owner Have?

From the time the creative work is captured in a permanent medium (fixed), the copyright owner has the exclusive right to:

• Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords (cassette tapes, CDs, or albums)
• Create derivative works based on the original work
• Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public through sale, or other transfer of ownership or by lease
• Perform the work publicly (literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pantomime, movie, or other audiovisual work)
• Display the work publicly (literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pantomime, pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work)
• Perform the work publicly via a digital audio transmission (if a sound recording)
• Authorize others to exercise these rights within statutory limitations

Although a work is considered to be copyright protected from the time it’s fixed in a tangible medium, it’s recommended (not mandatory for works of U.S. origin) that an author register his/her creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office.   Before registering, check the copyright database to ensure that what you want to register isn’t infringing on something already registered. If you register online, it can take up to nine months for your claim to be resolved.

Applying the copyright symbol © or the word “Copyright” along with the author’s name, and the year will provide practical and legal benefits. Should copyright infringement occur, this extra step will enforce the exclusive rights of the author.

How Long Does Copyright Last?

For works created on or after January 1, 1978, the copyright term is the life of the author/creator plus seventy years after the author’s death (or after the last surviving author’s death if a joint effort). For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, the copyright term is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Poor Man’s Copyright

You’ve likely heard of this method of protecting intellectual property. You mail a copy of your written work to yourself via registered mail and leave the envelope unopened. This is supposed to establish that the material was in your possession since a particular time (the date on the registered mail). The concept is based on the notion that, if the written work were to be misused by a third party, the “poor man’s copyright” would establish a legally recognized date of possession. This date of possession would be before any date that the third party would try to present as proof. 

It’s important to note that there is no provision in U.S. copyright law that gives any value to the poor man’s copyright as a substitute for registering a creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office.

If you’re confident that the business name (and catchy slogan?) you’ve chosen will resonate with your customers, grow with your business, and help build a strong company identity, you’ll want to prevent other businesses from using it. 

If you’ve already registered your business structure with the appropriate agency, no other business within a certain area should be allowed to use your business name. However, there are instances (especially as it relates to corporations) where the waters get a bit murky. For absolute protection of your business name and slogan, you’ll need to file for a trademark.

According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), “A trademark is a brand name. A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services.” The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization , or any legal entity . A trademark may be located on a package , a label , a voucher , or on the product itself.

Although registering a trademark with the USPTO provides many benefits (see below), it’s not required. You can establish what’s called “common law” rights based solely on use of the mark in commerce. For example, let’s say you open a floral shop named “The Rose Garden” and your store’s display window and walls feature a unique motif of roses and angels. In this instance, you would use the letters “TM” next to the name (the method for indicating ownership when a mark is registered only within your state or not at all). If another local shop used the same name and motif, you could sue them for trademark infringement, even though you haven’t officially registered the name and motif. 

Benefits of Registering a Trademark

• Ward off competitors – Registered marks are listed with the USPTO’s register of trademarks which others will see when searching for available marks. Also, registered marks are allowed to use the registered trademark ® symbol. Together, these should make businesses (especially counterfeiters) think twice before infringing on your mark.
• Valid nationwide – Registered marks are presumed to be valid nationwide, rather than just in your immediate geographic area. This will be important if you’ll later expand to another state or sell your products or services online. If you expand internationally, however, you’ll need to get a trademark in each country (non-U.S. territory) where you do business.
• Entitlement to additional damages – The use of a registered mark will shift the burden of proof to the defendant should you need to file an infringement lawsuit. You’ll also be entitled to certain damages if you prevail.
• Stop import of counterfeit goods – Registering a trademark gives the owner the ability to file with U.S. Customs to prevent counterfeit goods from entering the country.

After applying to register your trademark, you’ll have to wait a few months for your mark to be examined and any problems identified. After examination, there’s a 30-day waiting period during which other businesses are allowed to challenge your right to register the trademark.

What Does a Trademark Protect?

A trademark protects the owner of a mark (name, logo, symbol, or phrase) by ensuring that the trademark owner has the exclusive legal right to use the mark to identify their goods or services. The trademark owner also has the legal right to give someone else permission to use their trademark in exchange for payment.

Trademarks are essential for building brand recognition. When you hear the name “Kleenex”, you immediately associate it with facial tissues. There may be other facial tissue brands but, because of the registered trademark symbol ® next to Kleenex’s brand name, none can call themselves Kleenex. If another company attempted to do so, Kleenex could go to court and seek an injunction – a court order preventing further infringing activity.

What’s Not Protected by a Trademark?

Trademark is primarily a protection of your brand , but not all aspects of your brand are automatically eligible for trademark protection. Trademarks must be distinctive. Using a particular color on your company letterhead and website, for instance, doesn’t mean that other businesses can’t use it, even if they directly compete with you.

You can keep other businesses in your industry from using your trademark, but not different industries. If you sell shoes under a particular name and another company sells tile under that same name, you have no legal recourse.

How Long Does a Trademark Last?

Unlike patents and copyrights, trademarks don’t expire after a set term. Trademark rights come from actual “use”. Therefore, a trademark can last forever as long as you continue to use the mark in commerce to indicate the source of goods and services.  A trademark registration can also last forever as long as you file specific documents and pay fees at regular intervals .

Ingenious entrepreneur that you are, you’ve invented a new gadget and want to prevent others from exploiting it.   A patent will give you the right to keep infringers from making, using, selling, or offering to sell your invention in the United States or importing your invention into the United States.

Patents protect the mechanisms, principles and components surrounding an entrepreneur’s ideas and are granted by the USPTO for new, useful and nonobvious inventions. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. If you want patent protection in other countries, you must apply for a patent in each of those countries.

What Can be Patented?

The first step in knowing how to patent your invention is knowing if your invention is patentable. The USPTO issues three different kinds of patents : utility, design, and plant.

To qualify for a utility patent (the most common type), your invention must fall into one of the following categories:

• Process – A process is a series of steps that bring about a useful, tangible result. Processes also describe complex systems such as an investment strategy.
• Machine – A machine is comprised of moving parts or circuitry. A vacuum cleaner, photocopier, and smartphone are patentable machines.
• Article of manufacture – A manufacture is a new material made by combining other materials. Examples: tire, transistor, garden tool
• Composition of matter – Compositions of matter often require advanced knowledge of chemistry. Examples: a new drug, genetically altered lifeform, or detergent

In addition to fitting into one of the above categories, the invention must:

• have a degree of utility (usefulness), no matter how small
• be novel (different from previous inventions in a significant way)
• be nonobvious (surprising and significant) to someone knowledgeable in the area

For design patents , the design must be novel, nonobvious, and nonfunctional. For example, a new shape for a vacuum cleaner or car part that doesn’t improve its functionality would qualify for a design patent.

Plants may qualify for a patent if they are both novel and nonobvious. Plant patents are issued less frequently than any other type of patent and are granted to someone who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant .

How Long Does a Patent Last?

U.S. utility and plant patents are generally granted for 20 years from the date the patent application is filed; however, periodic fees are required to maintain the enforceability of the patent. A design patent is generally granted protection for 14 years from the date the design patent is granted.

To determine the specific licenses and permits that apply to your business and industry, visit your state and local government websites. Since some licenses and permits expire after a certain time, keep track of when you need to renew them. Renewal is often easier than reapplying.

When it comes to protecting your intellectual property, the methods discussed above are intended to protect your ideas and uphold your brand. You don’t want to invest copious amounts of time creating ideas and products only to have unscrupulous competitors infringe on your rights as the owner.   You also don’t want there to be confusion in the marketplace resulting in your reputation being sullied by counterfeiters offering inferior goods.

More ways to protect your intellectual property:

• Document your ideas – For added legal protection, use photos, drawings, and prototypes to document your ideas and inventions.
• Use the appropriate symbols – Show others that your ideas are protected by using ©, “TM”, and “patent pending”. You can use the registered trademark symbol ®after you’ve registered your mark with USPTO.
• Be careful sharing your ideas – Of course, you’re proud of your idea or invention but be careful sharing it before you’ve taken steps to protect it.

If you’re confused about whether you need a copyright, trademark, or patent, consult an intellectual property attorney for guidance. 

To read more articles about business, visit our  blog .

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Intellectual property rights cover a number of works that can be owned by individuals or companies. Intellectual property covers creations of the mind such as literature works, artistic pieces, and inventions. Intellectual property is divided into two categories of industrial property and copyright.

Intellectual property rights allow the creator to benefit from their work or creation through publicity or profit. Intellectual properties are recognized by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights Article 27. Which says that everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits and, everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

In the United States, your work is covered by law provided you have your work protected by a patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret. The work is covered under the Intellectual Property (IP) Policy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is responsible for the enforcement of active intellectual property claims and to develop new rules related to intellectual property. The website for the USPTO is the best place to look if you have a business idea you think is original and are not sure if a similar product exists or if you want to determine the merit or degree of individuality or differentiation of your product compared to another. If you determine you want to file for intellectual property protection you do so by applying with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

What are the reasons to protect your property?

To promote future developments of creativity by other entrepreneurs.

Promotion of intellectual property and the ability to protect it results in economic growth and creates new jobs.

The creators of intellectual are likely to create additional intellectual property.

By protecting intellectual property we grow innovation and ingenuity in an environment which promotes creativity for the benefits of all.

Why is the protection of intellectual property beneficial?

Without it customers would have little confidence that the products they purchase were authentic.

Without protection, inventors and idea makers would have little incentive to pursue new ideas.

Recording industries, software companies, and publishing companies could not exist without copyright protection.

Intellectual property provides a great economic benefit to the economy into the bottom line of many business entrepreneurs. Intellectual property protection is important to prevent counterfeiting and profit laws from infringement. There are many examples available of companies losing many jobs and significant dollars in revenue based on intellectual property infringement. This encompasses a wide range of issues which impact the company such as paying to replace defective products, possible personal injury, and the goodwill and reputation of your company.

It is estimated that intellectual property accounts for approximately 1/3 of the value of U.S. corporations and is estimated in the trillions of dollars. This is no small impact on the business frontier. Part of the difficulty lies in the technological advances we have made and are increasing need to provide protection to computer based intellectual property applications whether they are created on a computer or stored on a computer.

The reason intellectual property is most important and entrepreneurial context is because a significant amount of innovation and intellectual property is developed at the small business level but it only for patents. Intellectual property is used to pull the small business establishing growth reputation and develop a market niche. These niches are what provides great value to respected buyers for investors.

Intellectual property types

Patents offer protection so that an invention cannot be made copied, used, or sold without the inventor's permission. Trademarks ensure that the owners have exclusive rights to the marks that identify their goods or services.

Other intellectual properties include Industrial designs. Industrial Designs are the specific designs that a particular company uses in development of its specific product. These designs can be two dimensional such as a pattern or color, or three dimensional such as the shape or surface feature of a product. Industrial designs are used to protect a number of products today such as clothing, appliances, or housewares. Industrial designs are aesthetic and cannot be functional. The other portions of a product that are functional must be covered by a patent. Industrial designs are what make products more valuable or provide it with increased marketability because the product is more attractive and desirable for consumers over other products.

Industrial design protection ensures that the person or company who has registered the design has exclusive rights and protections against unauthorized copy or imitation. Industrial designs must be new and original in order to quality for protection under industrial design.

Understanding Intellectual property rights

Intellectual property includes products which are products of the mind and are distinct from the usual notions of property such as equipment, land, or buildings. You can see and feel them. You can own them, sell them, or lend them to others.

Patents, copyrights, and trademarks were the first intellectual property rights to be recognized in law. In the context of the intellectual property rights most people think of these first. These intangible property rights are distinct and yet have several aspects in common.

The patent protects inventions, processes, or ideas that are not generally known, can be reduced to a tangible form, our valuable or useful to society, and are protected for a finite term.

The copyright protects original expressions of ideas that are creatively produced in a tangible medium for a finite term.

Trademarks protect a word, phrase, sign, symbol, shape, or label that is a distinctive identifier of the goods or services of the creator when placed in in the market that is used to distinguish goods or services from those of any other person or business for an indefinite term.

The willingness to recognize property rights in creations is a fairly new concept in relative terms to tangible property rights. Intellectual property laws create affirmative rights but are not an absolute defensive against infringement. Your Intellectual property can be one of your most useful and most used business tools. If you own patents or copyrights you will realize value from utilizing them in your own exclusive manufacture or production. If you own trademarks, you will use them to distinguish your business and your products or services, to grow your customer base and to promote your reputation. As the creator of intellectual property you are the owner unless you give away your rights to own them. Intellectual property may have some costs for the entrepreneur which include research and development cost, presentation costs, production costs, column and compliance costs, insurance costs, and marketing and distribution.

The depth and spread of intellectual property grows each day with new innovation. New systems and enterprises are developed which lead to revolving intellectual property reform that unleashes open innovation and growth for the new era of entrepreneurship. The growth of new intellectual property is tied to innovation. Intellectual property is seen as a business asset to help with corporate growth and asset protection. As new innovations are developed new forms of intellectual property are developed which must undergo a valuation. Rapid changes in technology and the creative force of free-flowing information will continue to put a premium on the creation and use of intellectual property.

Some would contend that the best way to protect intellectual property would be simply to keep it a secret, unrevealed to others. The difficulty with this point of view is that keeping secrets is quite possibly one of the most difficult human objectives to achieve. As a result of the recognition of this problem law has developed to provide protection of property to intellectual property owners.

In the United States laws protecting intellectual property exist at both the state and federal levels. State laws cover a broad array of intellectual property fields ranging from trade secrets to the right of publicity. These laws differ from state to state.

The owner of a piece of intellectual property may still choose to protect it by keeping it secret either by literal secrecy or by contracts with employees that may have to work with the secret property that commit them not to reveal the nature of the property.

How to monitor for intellectual property infringement

If you own intellectual property it is your responsibility to protect it. The infringement can only be stopped once it is identified and reported to the proper governmental authorities. You want to make sure you have infringement monitors in place to look for unauthorized use of your intellectual property. You can do is internally by performing market searches, market analysis, or Internet search. You can do this externally by hiring an intellectual property watch service to monitor publications and applications related to your intellectual property. If you determine infringement has occurred you can take steps immediately to prevent future infringement occurrences by implementing cease and desist notifications. The next steps are arbitration and civil litigation if these notifications are not successful.

What to do if infringement happens

As an entrepreneur you should ensure the value of your intellectual property rights at creation. Ensuring your rights includes developing an intellectual property strategy, developing a budget, connecting your intellectual property with your business strategy, and developing preventive protection measures. Which are product is created and want to protect your intellectual product rights by registering your intellectual product, applying notices to it, actively using your intellectual product, keeping your eyes open for infringements, and preventing any infringements on your intellectual property.

As an entrepreneur you may acquire intellectual property rights by submitting a letter of instruction. You'll want to protect your intellectual property rights by using nondisclosure agreements such as those between the creator and a confidant, author and publisher, an employer and employee. If you determine your intellectual property rights have been infringed you will send a cease and desist letter. At the first sign of an infringement you may use a "cease and desist letter" to try to stop the suspected illegal activity. This procedure is a common and cost-effective method, and often produces results against individuals and smaller businesses, particularly if they have inadvertently used your intellectual property. Cease and desist involves the sending of a letter directly to the infringer and demanding that the infringer stop all infringing activities and acknowledge your intellectual property rights. Common verbiage in the letter includes a description of your company and a description of the infringement activity on your intellectual property you will demand the company or individual does the following:

Take all necessary steps to avoid any further infringing actions in relation to our company's intellectual property

Cease and desist all use of our company's intellectual property immediately.

Cease and desist from using any intellectual property confusingly similar to our company's intellectual property.

Take all necessary steps to transfer immediately to our company any and all registrations of intellectual property that are identical or similar to our company's intellectual property.

Destroy or order the destruction of all said infringing materials, information, products, and other items now in your possession or that come into your possession in the future.

Permit representatives of your company to inspect your premises during reasonable business hours and without advance notice to ensure that infringing products are not present.

You will ask they execute the letter by returning it to you as written assurance that they acknowledge. If the infringement continues and legal proceedings are brought, both parties will incur substantial expenses for attorney fees, court costs, investigative and discovery costs, and other litigation related expenses. They are also likely to suffer harm to their reputation among consumers and industry traders, loss of sales, loss of production, and potentially loss of the business. Settlement negotiations can take time, but they are usually accomplished in private without harmful publicity. The proceedings will determine consideration and costs each party will bear related to the settlement.

Developing a plan

As with any entrepreneurial venture proper planning lends to the best outcome. As the speed of information advances new issues arise with the protection of intellectual property. Historically we were not as concerned about hacking or engineering attacks on intellectual property. Computer hacking occurs on a daily basis. You can protect yourself by using this article on intellectual property rights and putting mechanisms in place to reduce your risk these include:

Nondisclosure agreements

Confidential disclosure agreements

Non-competition agreements

One solicitation agreements

Developing agreements for outsourcing and consulting

Providing adequate physical security

Using methods to prevent computer hacking

Using employee agreements

Performing a needs assessment

Business owners may not initially be aware that they need to protect your intellectual property rights. To perform a needs assessment you first need to identify the intellectual property that you own, consider ways to protect it, and determine the value of these assets. By performing an audit you will develop strategies to protect your intellectual property assets. You want to look at any specific processes, systems, formulations, methods, or instruments your business uses to develop intellectual property. You want to determine any advantages you have over your competition because of specialized pricing, marketing strategies, manufacturing processes, or product formulas. You also want to look at your total business operations and the underlying security.

Proper planning

In order to maintain a proactive stance in protecting intellectual property there are many items you should plan for relating to your intellectual property if the need to report an infringement occurs. Small businesses are more vulnerable to intellectual property theft because they have less experience in protecting intellectual property and corporations or may lack the expertise or financial resources to protect it or they simply may not know. There are many other measures you should look at in order to prevent the theft of intellectual property let's take a look of a few:

Keep your general information readily available and the local law enforcement contact number

Have a description of your intellectual property readily available including the estimated value, the cost to develop, the acquisition costs, fair market value if sold, and the estimated value.

Review and document the general physical security measures you have taken to protect your intellectual property

Describe security precautions such as fencing, security alarms, locking doors, or camera monitors

Describe the physical barriers to the building to prevent access such as "authorized personnel only" signs

Ensure you have a written security policy

Require employees to wear badges

Require employees to sign in knowledge mentor the security policy

Identify individuals in your company that are most knowledgeable on the security policy

Identify how many employees have access to your intellectual property

Identify if your intellectual property is only divulged on a need to know basis

Ensure that you use confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements

Ensure that you have a confidentiality policy

Ensure you protect computer stored intellectual property

Electronically stored intellectual property should be on the network protected by a firewall

Access should be limited to computer networks

Intellectual property should be stored on a separate computer server

Employee should be prohibited from bringing in outside computer programs or storage medium

Access logs to computer systems should be maintained

Documents must be controlled and marked confidential or proprietary

You should have a written process and policy concerning document control

New employee should be subject to background investigations

During exit interviews departing employees should sign they understand their obligation not to disclose intellectual property

You want to preserve any evidence of foul play concerning your intellectual property such as intrusion to a building, or computer server activity. This information will be reported to the US Department of Justice. The Department of Justice maintains checklist for reporting of intellectual property theft. In the event this occurs you will report basic information about your intellectual property and a description of the theft. This will include a list of possible suspects including their name, physical and e-mail address, physical address, their employer, and reason for suspicion. They will inquire as to whether the intellectual property was stolen to benefit a third party such is another business are competitor. They will inquire if the theft of intellectual property was committed to benefit a foreign government and if so you are to provide descriptive information. You will be required to provide information on any current or former employee nondisclosure agreements. You will identify any physical locations the intellectual property was stored. You will also provide any information on your internal investigation and if any civil enforcement actions have been filed.

Summary Reminders and Takeaways

Intellectual property rights cover a number of works that can be owned by individuals or companies. Intellectual property covers creations of the mind such as literature works, artistic pieces, and inventions. Intellectual property is divided into two categories of industrial property and copyright. Intellectual property rights allow the creator to benefit from their work or creation through publicity or profit. In the United States, your work is covered by law provided you have your work protected by a patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret. The work is covered under the Intellectual Property (IP) Policy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As an entrepreneur you want to take to work promote future developments of creativity by other entrepreneurs and promote intellectual property and the ability to protect. As with any other entrepreneurial venture you must take proper actions to plan for the prevention of the issues related to intellectual property including prevention of its release.

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Table of Contents

What are the 4 types of intellectual property?

What is the difference between copyright and intellectual property, how do you establish intellectual property, how do you copyright intellectual property, what is the most important type of intellectual property, what rights are protected by intellectual property laws, is intellectual property an asset, what type of property is intellectual property, which of the following is not a intellectual property, which is not a part of intellectual property rights, what are the 5 types of intellectual property, what is meant by intellectual property, why is it important for a business to protect its intellectual property, what are examples of intellectual property, what is intellectual property to a business, what are the 7 intellectual property rights, who owns intellectual property, what is the importance of intellectual property, what is the need of intellectual property rights, why are intellectual property rights important.

Last updated : Aug 29, 2022

• Domain names.
• Industrial design.
• Confidential information.
• Inventions.
• Moral rights.
• Database rights.
• Works of authorship.

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intellectual property or IP refers to something a person has either thought of or created some examples of IP include designs processes songs logos discoveries symbols and even brand-new varieties of plants IP belongs to the person who thought it up or put the work into creating it they get to decide who makes it how and where it's used and who can sell and profit from it but how can thinkers and creators keep their IP safe from misuse by others after all in a digital world it's easy to copy an idea or a design luckily there are laws in place to protect IP once a person is ready to go public with it there are four major paths to legal protection applying for a patent patents cover things like inventions new processes new machines and new ways of manufacturing things applying for a copyright copyrights protect works like art music writings movies and even software using a trademark to cover unique branding and identifiers like business names logos slogans mascots and more keeping something secret trade secrets make sure that things like manufacturing processes formulas and compilations of information never make it into the wrong hands getting these protections in place may seem difficult or time-consuming at first but protecting yourself is well worth the time and effort and it's not as hard as you may think this is where technology transfer or t2 comes in t2 helps negotiate the use sharing and assigning of IP so that companies and individuals can use government technology or a joint project between the government and private sector can take place t2 can make it easy to license a patent or share confidential information so both parties can help each other solve problems or create new products you

Thanks for your comment Shannon Jimerson, have a nice day. - Erich Lamarche, Staff Member

this is one in a series of videos about intellectual property and you as you sweep across our magnificent nation you'll see that IP is all around us it's everywhere intellectual property is the output of innovation new products and technologies that are protected so they can thrive in the marketplace IP rights offer not only protection but they can also drive commercial success for small medium and large enterprises innovation moves fast Canada is very competitive in highly innovative industries like clean tech advanced manufacturing digital tech health Biosciences clean resources and agri-food let's have a closer look patents protect new useful and non-obvious products compositions machines processes or improvements on any of these a patent will protect how a product works what it does how it does it what it is made of and how it is made for 20 years patents give you a competitive advantage in the market and demonstrate your commitment and protecting your innovation let's keep moving trademarks protect a brand or a company's identity trademarks can be one or many words sounds shapes or designs such as logos brand names and slogans registered trademarks can boost investor confidence build your reputation and become a revenue source through licensing or franchising moving on industrial designs are the features of a product that appeal to the eye the original industrial designs can be protected for up to 10 years and can help give products a competitive edge in the market alright one more stunt trade secrets can be very valuable when you've developed new technology designed original products created the perfect recipe or have a goldmine of customer data it gives you a business advantage over your competitor to consider something a trade secret you need to keep it secret there's even IP in the soundtrack of your life compositions and songs are protected by copyrights as our original literary artistic dramatic or musical works such as performers performances sound recordings and communication signals the owner of the copyright has the sole right to produce and reproduce a work or a substantial part of it in any form once your patent is granted or your trademark industrial design or copyright is registered by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office IP rights can be used in court as evidence that you own the work everywhere you look from coast to coast to coast IP is critically important find out more by visiting the Canadian Intellectual Property Office at this address

Thanks Marcellus your participation is very much appreciated - Erich Lamarche

About the author

Erich Lamarche

I've studied mechanochemistry at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in Kingsville and I am an expert in computing in mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. I usually feel dark. My previous job was civil engineering technician I held this position for 2 years, I love talking about beach volleyball and nail art. Huge fan of Shane West I practice scuba diving and collect beer cans.

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What are the 4 types of intellectual property What is the difference between copyright and intellectual property How do you establish intellectual property How do you copyright intellectual property What is the most important type of intellectual property What rights are protected by intellectual property laws Is intellectual property an asset What type of property is intellectual property Which of the following is not a intellectual property Which is not a part of intellectual property rights What are the 5 types of intellectual property What is meant by intellectual property Why is it important for a business to protect its intellectual property What are examples of intellectual property What is intellectual property to a business What are the 7 intellectual property rights Who owns intellectual property What is the importance of intellectual property What is the need of intellectual property rights Why are intellectual property rights important

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