Businesses, particularly in their early stages, should be concerned with protecting their most valuable asset—their intellectual property. Securing the rights to one’s intellectual property can be a complicated task for start-ups or newly formed businesses. Companies must identify the intellectual property they are seeking to safeguard and the most advantageous means to obtain legal protection. Owners of a young or start up business may inadvertently sabotage their own legal protections by releasing information, failing to execute the proper agreements, failing to seek appropriate registration, and/or failing to diligently enforce their rights as against infringers. Some of these common mistakes can be avoided by implementing a few basic strategies for taking better care of intellectual property.
Growing companies that have hired various consultants and independent contractors must ensure that their inventions and concepts remain the property solely of the company. The business entity should require individuals or companies with whom it engages in business transactions to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). This agreement precludes parties from divulging certain confidential information once the employment relationship has ceased. In addition, executing independent contractor agreements with outside parties also clarifies the parties’ responsibilities and addresses ownership rights to work products. The execution of an NDA and independent contractor agreements collectively reduces the risk of disclosure of proprietary information.
Early-stage companies often receive significant financial support from public funding. By raising revenue from public sources, these companies have discovered a new and promising outlet for investment. However, this process necessitates public disclosure of the company’s ideas, prototypes and inventions, which can be detrimental to a business entity that lacks legal protection for its intellectual property. Thus, obtaining formal patent protection by filing and registering an invention, or obtaining copyright or trademark registration may be critical to preventing others from claiming ownership of the idea or product. Where formal registration is unavailable, certain proprietary information may be legally protectable as a trade secret.
To learn about the steps you should implement to safeguard your ideas, processes, methods, information, and inventions, contact Shane Coons at 949-333-0900 or visit www.ShaneCoonsLaw.com.