WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
Intellectual property is a wide-reaching term that signifies a creation of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the rights that protect it. Intellectual property rights will allow creators or owners the right to use the creation from a profit standpoint, therefore providing impetus to create and innovate. Intellectual property is a foundation for business in terms of gaining a competitive advantage and long-term competitiveness.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR ENTREPRENEURS – PRESERVING COMPETITIVE EDGE, ATTRACTING INVESTORS, AND BUILDING BRAND REPUTATION
PRESERVING COMPETITIVE EDGE
Entrepreneurs devote a lot of effort and money to develop products, services, or processes that are distinct from their competitors. The goal of intellectual property protection is to prevent anyone else from copying or exploiting those products, services, or processes for financial gain, thus keeping entrepreneurs in a competitive position.
ATTRACTING INVESTORS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Investors seek ventures with intellectual property that has been secured. A venture that has protected its IP provides potential investors and partners with peace of mind and is more attractive because it demonstrates an entrepreneurial commitment to innovating businesses while at the same time protecting potential revenue streams for the future.
BUILDING BRAND REPUTATION
Trademarks and copyrights are essential to creating and maintaining a brand reputation. Brand reputation is a valuable asset that is based on the consistent quality associated with the brand. When consumers can identify the positives of the entrepreneur’s product and link them to their brand, they can distinguish it from other products in the market.
TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Patent protection grants inventors exclusive rights to an invention or new technology for a limited time, usually 20 years. This right allows the inventor to stop others from making, using, or selling the patented invention.
Example: A tech startup creates a novel algorithm to encrypt data, and the startup successfully files a patent for it. Competitors would not be able to use the algorithm for anything without permission.
Copyright protects works of authorship, or “original works of authorship”, which include literary works, dramatic works, musical works, pictorial and graphic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works, and sound recordings. Copyright does not provide exclusive rights for others to reproduce, distribute, or display the work.
Example: A content creation organisation that has copyright for a famous online video series can stop that work from being reproduced by anyone other than the copyright owner or people the copyright owner has authorised.
Trade secrets are business-related pieces of information that are confidential to others and create a competitive advantage to the business that protects the information from use or acquisition by others. Examples of trade secrets can be formulas, processes, strategies, policies, customer lists, and the like; anything that is not known to, or readily ascertainable by, others typically qualify as a trade secret.
Example: The recipe for a soft drink is a trade secret. The trade secret represents and is an integral part of a unique product that is valued, sought after, and worth a great deal of money to the company.
CHALLENGES IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
The global marketplace brings abnormalities to the effective protection of intellectual property due to different laws and regulations prevailing in separate jurisdictions.
The very fast technological advances hardly allow the protection of new and innovative products and processes.
Even when the intellectual property rights are strong, enforcement can be very challenging, and even more so when the infringing activity extends beyond borders.
EVALUATING & AUDITING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS
Before discussing strategies, companies should check and audit their intellectual property and do the following:
Make a comprehensive list of all intellectual property assets (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets).
Assess the value of each intellectual property asset. This could involve assessing market demand, sales or revenue driven by specific IP, or cost savings attributed to given IP.
Identify potential risks to existing IP, e.g., expiration of patents, new competing technologies.
KEY TACTICS FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
Register any patents, trademarks and copyrights so that the company can legally own and enforce its rights.
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS
Be sure to use confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements to prevent others from knowing your trade secrets when providing a presentation or sharing information with an employee, contractor or partner.
Doing a regular intellectual property audit will help ensure all your intellectual property assets are current and aligned with your company’s goals.
If your business is looking to expand into overseas markets, be sure to get all intellectual property protection in that international territory to be able to protect your rights and prevent infringements.
Get your employees to appreciate the importance of intellectual property and understand how they can help to protect it.
CASE STUDIES
Unlocking Success: A Case Study on Intellectual Property Protection for ABC Tech Innovations in the AI-Healthcare Sector
ABC Tech Innovations, which specialises in AI and uses technology and AI-driven solutions to improve healthcare, faced my company’s division market space was publicly a public failure. The challenge was how to protect our proprietary algorithms, but after securing patents for our algorithms and confidentiality agreements, we achieved the goal to stop others inside and outside the organisation from sharing our ground-breaking technology. As opposed to losing market share, we were able to protect the intellectual property and, at the same time, secure significant investments that would propel the company into a leadership role in the industry.
Safeguarding Creativity: A Case Study on Intellectual Property Strategies by Creative Studios Ltd. for Digital Assets Protection
Creative Studios Ltd., a content creation business, used copyrights to protect its digital assets. By combining copyright registration processes with strong licensing (in some jurisdictions), the business developed a strong legal backbone for its creative works to deter infringers and engage lucrative licensing partnerships that ultimately contributed to the company’s ongoing growth.
CONCLUSION
For many entrepreneurs, intellectual property protection is a key element of sustainable success, assuming that the entrepreneur has taken a step back to think about how a business engages and presents itself in an evolving market. In order to develop an IP program, entrepreneurs need to take a proactive approach to identify, protect, and strategically leverage their intellectual property assets. Considering the types of intellectual property, the challenges, and the protection strategy can offer businesses a solid basis for protecting their innovations, attracting investment, and preparing a strong basis for sustainable growth.
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