What Types of Intellectual Property Should a Small Business Protect?

Intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks, and patents, can have significant value for a small business. Every business owner should be attentive to intellectual property (IP) generated in their business and take the necessary steps to protect their IP legal rights. A business law attorney can help an owner identify intellectual property assets and understand what steps are necessary to protect their legal rights.

Intellectual Property in a Small Business

The term intellectual property refers to legal rights in creations such as original content, inventions, artistic works, symbols, and much more. Generally, the creator of a work owns the IP rights to their creation, but in some cases, federal and state laws require that specific steps must be taken to protect those rights.

The most common types of intellectual property in a small business are copyrights, trademarks, and patents. A small business owner should identify whether there is a need to protect these types of assets in their operations and ascertain what steps must be taken to secure that protection.

Copyrights

Copyright is the most common type of intellectual property for most small businesses. Copyrights protect original creative works of authorship that are in a fixed physical form of expression, such as written content, software, music, books, and artistic works including graphics, photographs, videos, and similar creations. Under copyright laws, some items and written materials do not qualify for copyright protection.

The owner of a copyright has exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, sell, and display the work publicly. As intellectual property, a copyright may also be the subject of contractual agreements for licensing, assignment, sale, and other transfers of rights.

The legal protection for works that are eligible for a copyright exists from the moment of creation. However, a copyright owner must register an eligible work with the United States Copyright Office in order to enforce their IP rights through legal action.

If your business produces works that are protected by copyright, a business law attorney can help you identify your copyright assets and take the necessary steps to protect them.

Trademarks

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these elements that identifies the goods or services of a business. A trademark enables customer recognition and distinguishes the goods or services of one business from another. As a business, having a trademark provides legal protection for your brand and helps you guard against counterfeiting and fraud.

A business owns a trademark as soon as the trademark is used, but the owner has limited legal rights until the mark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registration provides a trademark owner with more substantial, nationwide legal rights.

Registering a trademark with the USPTO is a complex, detailed process. While most businesses are not required to have legal representation, retaining a trademark lawyer to handle registration has substantial benefits. Trademark attorneys may, but are not required to, register with the USPTO in order to represent individuals in trademark matters.

Patents

A registered U.S. patent gives an inventor or designer the right to exclude others from making, selling, offering for sale, or importing or using the invention or design. There are three types of patents in the United States:

• Utility patents are for invention of a “new or improved and useful process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter.”
• Design patents are for invention of a “new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.”
• Plant patents are for invention or discovery and asexual reproduction of any distinct and new variety of plant.

Patent law establishes limitations on what can be patented within these categories. For a patent to be issued, an invention or design must meet very specific conditions. Securing and maintaining a patent is an extremely complicated, multi-step process.

Patent law is a highly specialized area of law. If you think you may have an invention or design that is eligible for a patent, you should discuss your situation with a patent attorney registered with the USPTO.

Identifying Intellectual Property Assets

If you have not taken the initial steps to identify potential intellectual property assets in your small business, a business law attorney can help you identify copyright, trademark, and patent matters within your business operations.

After you identify the potential IP assets of your business, your lawyer can explain the processes for protecting those assets from infringement, counterfeiting, and fraud. In some cases, assistance from a lawyer with specialized intellectual property experience may be necessary. In that case, your business lawyer can refer you to a professional colleague who has the knowledge and experience to help with your specific needs.

Protecting your intellectual property enables you to prevent misappropriation of your IP legal rights through legal action and also to benefit from leveraging your rights through contractual agreements permitting use of your intellectual property by others. Failure to protect these valuable rights could negatively impact your business and result in substantial financial losses.

Schedule a Free Consultation With an East Valley Business Law Attorney

At Peterson Law Offices, business law attorney Shane Peterson provides ongoing legal counsel on a wide range of legal matters that affect small businesses. If you are a small business owner concerned about protecting the intellectual property assets in your business, we can help you identify your specific IP needs and provide guidance in securing the necessary protection.

Your first consultation is always free of charge. We welcome inquiries from clients throughout the East Valley, including Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler. Schedule your free initial consultation by calling 480-878-5998 or using our online contact form.