Intellectual Property Overview

A significant portion of a business’ value lies in its intellectual property. With many startups any value lies in the value of their ideas.

It is vital for businesses to ensure they clearly own all their intellectual property. This could include:

• Website code
• App code
• Any custom software applications / code
• Images
• Logos, brand identity, artwork
• Product design
• A large number of other things, such as recipes, fonts, unique scents, and so on.

Talk with a legal professional about what in your operation actually constitutes IP, and what / how can be protected.

“A significant portion of a business’ value lies in its intellectual property. With many startups any value lies in the value of their ideas.” 

Your name is your brand! Make sure to trademark your business name, logo, and key product names.

If you want to profit from your original work and inventions, filing for intellectual property protection is critical, and working with an experienced attorney to make sure your applications are correct is critical. Also, if a business owns valuable intellectual property, it can increase the value of the business itself. Deciding on the right type of intellectual property protection is also important. Learn about the three primary types of IP to the right.

Trademarks

A trademark protects brand names, taglines and logos used on goods. Logos are considered Design Marks while plain text names and taglines are considered Word Marks. You may need both types of trademark. Service Marks are used to protect the names of intangible assets like ideas and songs.
For example, if you own a restaurant or other food business and you want to make sure nobody else in your area uses the same name and logo as you, a trademark would protect you.

Copyright

A copyright protects authors, artists and creators. Copyrights cover creative works such as songs, novels, movies, computer software, poetry and architecture.
If you own a construction company and develop original building designs or you’re a real estate broker and you write a book about your sales processes, you need to register for a copyright to protect your valuable creations.

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property that protects inventions. The two most common types of patents are Utility Patents and Design Patents.
If you develop a new kind of machine or your software company develops new software, you may need a patent. Note that software can be both copyrighted (for the code) and patented (for the invention). Deciding on one vs the other has significant consequences. Sometimes you may need both.