The following extract is from a series of business articles and videos about protecting your intellectual property using trademarking …
If you study the two words contained in the term “intellectual property”, you will notice the word “property”. To most people, “property” means something tangible, like a house, a bike, or a tv set.
Patents, trademarks and copyright are intellectual property protection terms that are too often confused by many people. If you are an entrepreneur, a product creator, a book author, composer or inventor, it pays to know the different types of intellectual property protection, what protection mechanisms are used for which category, and how intellectual protection mechanisms compare with one other.
Knowing the difference between these concepts helps you answer questions such as those regarding getting a trademark on a logo, the importance of trademarks registration, trademarking apparel, registering a trademark yourself, difference between trademark and patents, what the procedures are for applying for a trademark, service mark, or patent, how to protect trade secrets, how to enforce copyrights, what are mask works, what form of protection do you use if you have developed a software application and many more.
To understand the context of intellectual property a little better, let’s take a look at a business owner.
After carefully examining the market, a business owner discovers an opportunity for a product or service that can help solve a problem or make life a little easier for other people. The person with a great business idea then realizes that he or she can provide a unique and affordable solution to satisfy market demand. Not only that, but they can also put systems in place for delivering the product or service better, faster and cheaper than any other business can.
After raising money to start a company from various sources, the business owner starts to build their business and works hard to develop a reputation for delivering quality products and excellent service. By developing unique methods of creating and delivering their product or service, the business owner has also acquired potentially valuable “intellectual property”.
How can the business owner exploit this intellectual property to their benefit? How can they transform their ideas into tangible profits? How can they prevent their ideas and information from being appropriated by others?
These are all important questions that need to be carefully considered. Through the application of their ideas and processes, the business owner has created something “tangible”, something different, and something that is potentially extremely valuable. They have intellectual property, and just like any other form of property, intellectual property needs to be protected and applied wisely.
The term “intellectual property” covers a wide spectrum of intangible assets. Most people have heard of intellectual property terms such as trademarks, copyrights and patents. Intellectual property, however, also extends to things such as how you present yourself (i.e. trade dress), business goodwill and reputation, the collective knowledge and expertise of a company or individual employees, data, know-how and other information related to areas of technology or business, such as managerial or operational processes, marketing and sales methods, etc …
In our modern global economy, even small business owners need to understand not only how to develop, maintain and protect their intellectual property rights, but also how to avoid infringing on the intellectual property rights of others.
One specific area that you need to pay significant attention to, especially if your enterprise is becoming successful, is the area of competition. To survive in the marketplace, business owners need to be able to recognize and successfully deal with competitive threats that can take over and beat their marketing and production processes, potentially eliminating them from the market arena.
One form of competitive threat are large competitors with market power. These are often big organizations that have significant resources and can outperform your business in areas such as marketing, research and development, and salesforce. They may not necessarily infringe on your intellectual property rights, but they can certainly research and exploit any weaknesses your business has when it comes to maintaining those rights. Because of their deep pockets, resources and efficiencies, they can quickly gain an understanding of how and why a competitor has certain advantages, then figure out strategies for crushing and eliminating their competition from the marketplace. By developing a solid understanding of intellectual property and how to protect yourself, a small business can compete in the marketplace with these giants and succeed.
For more tips on the importance of trademark protection, go here: Trademarking Ideas