Summary:
Securing intellectual property (IP) ensures you control and benefit from your creations by preventing unauthorized use or theft. This involves identifying, registering, and protecting your IP, and maintaining legal documentation to defend against infringement.
Main Points:
- Types of IP: Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
- Securing IP: Identify assets, document creation, register IP, and maintain audit trails.
- Benefits: Legal protection, secure market position, and economic value.
- Protection Strategies: Monitor for infringement, use cease and desist letters, and pursue legal action if necessary.
As a business owner, you deserve to both control and benefit from your intellectual property (IP). You can only do so if you’ve adequately secured those assets to keep them safe from infringement.
Ideally, securing intellectual property rights should protect your work from unauthorized use or theft. In the event that infringement occurs, however, it’s wise to maintain a strong, legally defensible audit trail. Likewise, if you hope to benefit from a loan, you will need sound proof that you own the IP you claim to possess.
In this guide, we’ll expand on the factors that go into securing and protecting your critical intellectual property. Continue reading to learn how to prove ownership of an image or idea.
What Constitutes Intellectual Property (IP)?
The International Trade Administration defines intellectual property as “creations of the mind.” It constitutes everything from artwork to software solutions. Your IP is a valuable, if intangible, asset. It has the power to keep your business competitive in a saturated landscape.
Intellectual property encompasses four broad categories. Below, we’ll provide a brief overview of each type.
1. Patents
Patents provide inventors with exclusive rights to their new inventions. These rights prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission. To secure a patent, apply with the relevant government office. In most cases, you can do so through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2. Copyrights
Copyrights protect original works of authorship, such as books, music, and films. This protection grants exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and display the work. To copyright your IP, register the trademark with the appropriate authority.
3. Trademarks
Trademarks protect symbols, names, and slogans used to identify goods or services. They help distinguish products from competitors. To trademark your IP, register the trademark with the appropriate authority.
4. Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are practices, designs, formulas, processes, or information that provide a business advantage. They are called secrets because they are kept intentionally confidential. Securing trade secrets can be somewhat more complex than securing a copyright or trademark. You will need to implement measures to keep the information confidential, such as NDAs and secure data storage.
Securing Intellectual Property Rights
Ideally, you’ll begin the process of securing your intellectual property rights by identifying which assets constitute IP. Your IP is most secure when you can document the creation and development process of each asset.
Consider setting up an IP audit trail with an escrow agency. This service protects and verifies your ownership by creating a legally defensible depository of materials. Your escrow agency is considered a third party. Thus, the materials you submit can be independently corroborated in court in the event of an infringement.
As mentioned above, you will need to apply for all relevant patents, trademarks, and copyrights. To do so, you must apply to the appropriate government authority.
The USPTO grants patents and registers trademarks. The US Copyright Office registers copyrights. The process typically takes between 12 to 18 months from the date of filing.
If protecting trade secrets, you must work with a legal team to put a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) in place. Likewise, you will want to keep any mission-critical IP in a secure data storage facility. We advise you to store trade secrets such as source code and build instructions in at least two secure physical sites.
Likewise, ensure you are in compliance with international IP laws and treaties. If your business operates globally, look into international protection of your assets. In most cases, you can apply to an individual country’s IP office or authority. WIPO is a helpful resource for those seeking international protection.
The Benefits of Securing Intellectual Property Rights
The benefits of registering, securing, and protecting your IP include the following:
- Legal Protection: You will have the grounds to prevent others from using your IP without permission. Documentation makes it much simpler to settle an IP-related dispute.
- Secure Your Market Position: In a saturated market, your brand identity is one of your most valuable assets. Securing logos and branding assets helps maintain your brand identity. It can also provide some protection against counterfeiters.
- Economic Value: Your unique IP is a source of revenue, giving your business a competitive edge.
Protecting Your IP from Infringement
Once you’ve secured your IP, the process of ongoing monitoring begins. A competitive business typically keeps a close eye on its competition. Online patent analytics tools can be helpful for spotting less obvious forms of infringement. These tools use AI technology to find patterns and generate insights that can lead you to identify IP theft.
If you find that your IP has been stolen, the first step is to send a cease and desist letter. This serves as a warning and allows the other entity to stop infringement. Ideally, they will do so, preventing you from litigating.
If the other entity does not cease and desist use of the IP, the next step is typically negotiation. Legal counsel from both sides can meet to craft an intellectual property security agreement. If this proves impossible, the case may move to court.
Assuming you have followed the above steps, your documentation should serve as powerful evidence in your favor. In many cases, an IP audit trail is even determinative of the final outcome.
Creating a legally defensible audit trail begins when you choose a reputable escrow agent. Secure your intellectual property the correct way with our IP protection services.