Intellectual property (IP) plays a big role in adding worth to an organization. But some businesses wait too long to secure these assets, which can cause problems later. When you understand the common mistakes around IP, you can help protect the ideas and innovations that set your business apart and keep it competitive.
Neglecting IP protections
Some businesses assume that what they create will receive automatic rights to the IP, such as:
- Patents: It protects new inventions that can be used in industry, such as chemical formulas, machines or technical processes.
- Trademarks: It protects names, logos or designs that show customers your products or services are different from others.
- Copyrights: It protects creative works like books, music, software code, photos and paintings that exist in a physical or digital form.
- Trade secrets: It protects confidential business information such as recipes, production methods, customer lists and pricing plans.
Without these, your business risks having its ideas copied or facing legal disputes with competitors.
Missing elements in independent contractor agreements
IP ownership often surprises business owners who believe that the company automatically owns everything created by their team. But this is not always the case.
Work made by an employee as part of their job usually belongs to the company. But when a company hires independent contractors such as freelance designers, software developers or marketing consultants, the contractors usually keep ownership of their work unless a contract clearly transfers it to the company.
Without a clear agreement, a contractor’s work might legally belong to them rather than the business. Many employment and contractor contracts do not clearly address the IP concerns and when this happens, disputes over ownership can appear if an employee leaves or after they have finished working on a project.
Revealing innovations before securing protections
In the United States, revealing an invention to the public without filing a patent application within one year can result in the loss of patent rights. This begins when the invention becomes public through presentations, publications, sales or detailed discussions at trade shows. After this period, patent protection is no longer available.
Public disclosure can occur in ways that are not immediately obvious. For example, demonstrating a product at conferences or running beta testing programs can trigger this one-year period. If your business has plans to unveil a project, enlisting the help of a lawyer familiar with IP laws can provide you with guidance on the subject and help you further protect the best interests of your business.