When starting a business in New York, it is a good time to make sure that the company’s intellectual property is protected. The best way to do that is to make sure that any slogans, logos or other marks related to the brand are trademarked. This makes it impossible for other companies to use that company’s name, its slogan or its logo without express written permission.
Any product that a company creates should be patented if it is a unique product that enhances a current product or otherwise provides value to the customer. For example, licensing technology created to enhance the gas mileage that a car gets could make cars that use the technology more attractive to customers. Therefore, a patent can be worthwhile because that creation can be licensed and sold to other companies for a significant profit.
Finally, it is important to make sure that trade secrets are truly kept secret. Otherwise, a competitor could steal an idea and use it as its own, and proving that a competitor stole an idea could prove too costly for a smaller company to pull off. For mature and successful companies, keeping the reason for its success secret can help it create something that won’t be duplicated in the future.
Intellectual property may be the difference between a company holding a strategic competitive advantage and going out of business. This is why trademarks, patents and other legal protection may be given to a company that comes up with the ideas. Business owners who feel as if their intellectual property rights have been violated may wish to hire a business law attorney to help pursue legal action against those who may be doing the infringing.
Source: Forbes, “Summer Refresher: ABCs Of Intellectual Property“, Mary Juetten, July 17, 2014