Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, and Trade Secrets are often referred to as the Intellectual Property (IP) of a business. However they are not the only forms of IP that a business may own. Intellectual Property can greatly affect the valuation of your business. Protection of these assets is critical especially for new or disruptive technologies, BioTech, Branding and Publishing to name a few. What many people do not realize is that your protection is not complete just because you have a Copyright, Trademark or Patent. Do your homework before you apply to the government for these items. You normally do not need to hire a professional firm to file for a Copyright or Trademark. Visit http://www.uspto.gov/ for additonal information.
Top 7 items to consider when you file for a Patent, Trademark or Copyright from The Entrepreneur’s Advisor™:
1. Although there are several methods of valuation. The value of Intellectual Property is easily understood as what others are willing to pay, in order to purchase, license or somehow make use of your IP. Just because you think you have a million or billion dollar idea does not mean that others will assign the same value.
2. Each type of Intellectual Property has its own terms of protection set by the US government and the length of protection varies greatly.
3. Not all countries have reciprocal agreements with the USA or honor Intellectual Property claims. For more information on International Patent Filing visit http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/index.htm
4. Filing for and obtaining a Patent can be expensive and take years to obtain.
5. If you use a firm that does file for patents, ask for references, success ratios and who will be performing the work. Unfortunately, many patent firms do not perform adequate searches for “prior art” that results in the patent office denying the claim for similar patents.
6. Having a Patent, Trademark or Copyright may not prevent others from infringing upon your rights. The most important question to ask when considering filing for IP is “What are you willing to pay to defend your claim”? Infringement cases often take years to resolve and may cost millions of dollars.
7. Make sure you know who owns the Intellectual Property in your company. Have a policy in place for the development of innovations and there management
Ask us if you need guidance or assistance in filing for IP protection and or how to value your idea/invention. This is the first in a series of discussions regarding Intellectual Property.