Intellectual property (IP) and all that goes along with it can sound intimidating to beginners— we get it! We’re all new to everything at one point or another, and when IP and its intricacies aren’t your forte, a beginner’s guide is just what you need. Whether your business is small or large, or a start-up or well-established, starting on your IP journey as soon as possible is key.
This article highlights the main things you need to know as a beginner to intellectual property (IP). For personalised advice, contact our team at The Intellectual Property Works today.
Your Intellectual Property
When you combine creativity and ingenuity in your work, you should always protect your innovations, creations, and ideas. Whether these are literary and artistic, a game-changer in the MedTech space, they’re yours and they provide value to your business.
How Do You Provide Value?
Starting with your IP begins with the basics— how do you add value to your business? There are many ways to do this, so take the time to uncover the main ways you add value. To start you off, some key ways businesses can enhance their value include:
- Innovation, by developing new products, services, or technologies.
- Adapting to market trends to take advantage of new opportunities.
- Embracing digital technology and e-commerce to expand your reach.
- Maintaining a positive cash flow to increase investor and shareholder confidence.
- Building a recognisable and well-trusted brand to enhance brand loyalty and increase customer retention.
- Providing exceptional customer service to position your business above your competitors and retain customer loyalty.
- Priding yourself on talent management, attracting and retaining the highest quality of staff.
- And last but certainly not least, protecting your IP and giving yourself opportunities to use licensing to increase revenue!
What Underpins Those Values?
Once you have a clear understanding of the main way or ways you add value to your business, it’s time to consider what underpins those values. Identifying the elements that contribute to your business’ value gives you the greatest opportunity to begin your IP journey. With a thorough understanding of your overall objectives, you can then consider key IP questions around ownership, risk, and protection.
Aspects you might consider include:
- Innovative technology, for example, a particular product or feature or the technology itself— This often requires filing for patents to prevent others from taking your ideas and gives you the competitive edge.
- Relationships with suppliers, partners, and key customers— For many businesses, these relationships form the basis of the business’ success as a whole. If you collaborate with others, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be useful to prevent confidential information from leaking and getting to competitors.
- Brand identity— We all recognise certain brands and associate them with particular colours, shapes, designs, logos, and so on. Giving your business something that sets it apart and makes people think of you when they see it is incredibly powerful, so don’t underestimate this!
- Hardworking and skilled employees— No business with employees can steer their ship fully autonomously. Your employees are one of your most valuable assets, and making sure they’re treated as such is only the beginning! In addition to this, ensure any IP they create during their time with you is protected.
- Business processes— Documenting and protecting your know-how, or trade secrets, is just as crucial as patents and trademarks.
Consider Key IP Questions
Ownership, risk, and protection are the three pillars of IP. Together, they form the basis of how to start with your IP
Ownership
Ownership refers to who owns the IP asset. This is crucial as it can become complicated depending on many different aspects, all of which will be unique to the business and the IP itself. IP can be created by you, your employees, or contractors and freelancers— and in some cases may even be jointly owned. Clear and comprehensive contracts from the outset are the best course of action when it comes to IP ownership.
Risk
Just as in life, there are always risks involved in business. Knowing what the potential risks are and having strategies in mind for if and when you may need to implement them can save you a lot of stress, so it’s important to prepare yourself ahead of time. Risks can be in terms of infringement, piracy, innovation or knowledge leakage, concerns about confidential information becoming public, and more. The risks involved in business highlight why IP audits are so crucial, regardless of the industry you’re in.
Protection
Once you know what you own and what risks may be associated if the worst happens, you need to safeguard whatever you can. The four main IP protection methods are patents (exclusive rights for inventors regarding their inventions or discoveries), trademarks (brand names, logos, symbols, slogans, and so on), copyrights (original works of art that may be artistic, literary, musical, dramatical, or software and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and the like), and trade secrets (confidential business information such as recipes, processes, customer lists, etc). As protections vary depending on the asset, it’s important to know where your asset stands and if and how it may be protected
Expand Your IP Knowledge
Looking for a deeper introduction to IP strategy? You’ve got it! The Intellectual Property Works’ founder Stephen Carter is hosting a free signature live webinar on the 22nd of August. This immersive 120-minute session is limited to 20 participants, so make sure to secure your seat for the information and support you deserve along your IP journey. To save a virtual seat for yourself, take advantage of this exclusive opportunity to outline your IP plan today.
