As a small business, you know the hard work it takes to transform a simple idea into something tangible. Owning a small business takes long days, countless hurdles, and the endurance to keep going. Your hard work is visible with your small business, but did you know there’s an asset that most times goes unprotected? Your intellectual property.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) defines intellectual property (IP) as creations of the mind like inventions, literature, artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images used in commerce. Intellectual property can be protected by law by registering the IP to protect the rights of your business.
How Do You Protect Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property can be protected when it falls under three of the following categories:
Trademarks are words, phrases, or designs that are closely tied to the branding of your business and distinctly set you apart from other businesses.
- Examples include business names, product names, and logos.
Patents are for technical inventions and give you exclusive rights to the formula, processes, and design of the invention.
- Examples of patents include machinery, designs of products, and technology.
Copyright is protection on artistic, literary, or intellectual pieces of work that exist in tangible forms like print, digital, film, and canvas.
- Examples include music, lyrics, photographs, and paintings.
Why Should Small Businesses Protect Intellectual Property?
For many small business owners, protecting intellectual property may not be a top priority because of how lengthy and costly filing, maintenance, and renewal fees can be. But protecting your businesses’ intellectual property helps prevent other businesses from knocking off your work, also known as infringement, and makes sure you’re not unknowingly infringing someone else’s protected intellectual property.