How to Protect Your Intellectural Property - Do an IP Audit
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Intellectual Property IP Audit
What are you doing to protect your ideas, your trade secrets, your trademarks and domain names, your brand, your website, your competitive edge?
Well, that’s a lot to think about and it’s all in the field of Intellectual Property, traditionally covering Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks. That field also covers licensing and many issues pertaining to doing business via the Internet. If you’re not sure if you are adequately covering your business in these areas, you might consider having someone come in and do an Intellectual Property “Audit” for you.
What would such an Audit tell you? It could let you know if you have one or more solid trademarks and whether or not the Trademarks are properly protected. It could help you identify what inventions your company has and review how they are being handled. It might lead you to applying for a Patent or to better handling an invention as a guarded trade secret. It would focus attention on how you process new ideas in the company, and what related employee policies are in place.
An Intellectual Property Audit could tell you whether or not you have adequate Copyright protections in place for your marketing materials (including your website), your manuals, your data, your software, and other company output.
Possibly most important, it can highlight whether or not new company initiatives match company goals, and what you might need to do to beef up your competitive edge. Chances are your competitive edge is tied to some form of Intellectual Property, both of which should be protected as fully as possible.
Attorney Sandra J. Franklin specializes in Business and Intellectual Property counseling and dispute resolution. See IntellectualPropertyUmbrella.com for contact information.
