Tips for Protecting Your Business’s Intellectual Property | The Journey
Channel: GoDaddy
Date: 2020-09-28

Tips for Protecting Your Business’s Intellectual Property. Check out more The Journey content at https://bit.ly/GDTheJourney.

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⏰TIMESTAMPS⏰
00:40 – What are trademarks?
02:07 – What is a copyright?
03:03 – What are patents?
03:58 – What are trade secrets?
04:52 – Tips for protecting your IP

Businesses have intellectual property (IP), whether they know it or not. Be it a brand, an invention, or website content, IP is an intangible asset that, when properly protected, can enhance the overall value of a business. 

Intellectual property can be one of the most valuable items that a startup has. Your intangible assets are your ideas, know-how, and processes — the foundation of your business. They are the thing that sets you apart from your competitors.

Unfortunately, too many businesses fail to recognize their importance, and as a result, they fail to capitalize on their company’s full value when it comes to seeking investments or financing.

Here are some examples of the different types of intangibles, or intellectual property (IP), that every business has but rarely considers.

Trademarks
If you have a business name, a name for any of your products, or a logo, then you may have a protectable trademark. They represent your brand and the reputation you have built (or are hoping to build) with customers and clients. That’s why it’s important to make sure the marks you’re using aren’t infringing on anyone else’s. 

Copyrights
Any original work that you have created that exists in a fixed, tangible medium falls under copyright protection. If you have original website copy, marketing materials, or other creative works that you’re using in your business, you have a copyright on them. The caveat is they have to be your work or work that you’ve paid for; you can’t take the work of others from elsewhere online and attempt to repurpose them as your own. 

Patents
Using the word “patent” has become shorthand for legally protecting an idea, regardless of what it might be. In reality, a patent is the right to exclude others from creating or selling your invention. However, getting a patent doesn’t mean you can just put your feet up and wait for the money to come rolling in, you still have to do the work to get your product made. 

Trade secrets
If you use anything in your business that is known only to you, you could have a trade secret.
This can be a process, formula, or method that you use in creating your product, as well as any contact lists you might have. The most important part of maintaining trade secrets is, unsurprisingly, keeping them secret. 

Here are some basic tips to help you protect your IP:

Plan ahead 
It is important to map out a timetable for product launches, website launches, and planned disclosures so that IP protection can be a part of the timetable, as well.

Put employee agreements in place 
A solid employment agreement will require employees to protect your IP by addressing IP ownership, confidentiality, and even non-competition in appropriate cases.

Use a non-disclosure agreement 
A non-disclosure agreement is a vehicle for protecting your IP from public disclosure. 

Have agreements with your consultants and vendors 
Believe it or not, paying consultants and vendors does not mean that you automatically own the IP you pay them to create.

File a patent application before you disclose
The safest course is to file a patent application covering the invention before publicly disclosing it.

If your product or service has a name, protect it 
A distinctive product name can function as a trademark by indicating the source of the goods and distinguishing the product from other goods. 

Settle on a distinctive trademark. 
Distinctive marks are stronger and can be more valuable than descriptive ones. 

Know the limitations of the internet. 
Just because you find material posted on the internet does not mean you have the right to use it. Alternatively, if others find material posted on your website does not mean that they have the right to use that material either. 

Keep an eye on your competitors. 
If your competitors have a trademark that is confusingly similar to yours or if they are using your patented method, then you can (and should) enforce your IP rights against them. 

Just like your tangible assets, you want to make an inventory or list of all your intellectual property early on to ensure you’re taking the proper steps to protect and monetize these valuable assets.

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