MarkCrest – Step 2 | Protect IP, Trademark, Copyright, Patent
Is the idea unique? If it is you need to decide how to create a framework to protect the idea.
So you had an idea, concept, design or other intellectual property or properties and you need to determine the best way to protect. Registering all IP can become an expensive enterprise particularly when you or your business have other essential expenditures that have priority.
There are many different ways to protect your IP without the costly process of Ip registration or hiring a patent attorney although this is the recommended approach.
When you have completed a review and identified all your Intellectual Property you then need to classify each IP in terms of asset type so you know what can and cannot be done to protect and the cost benefit to working on that IP asset. It is not a magic wand approach with IP as different IP has different approaches and implication on you or your organizations.
The likelihood is you have many different types of IP and need to do some research into your IP rights such as what may be trademarked or are copyrightable, approaches that may be included as change secrets, and improvements that may be patented. All of those varieties types of IP include various safety and differt approaches.
The best approach is to look at IP as a process of applying the approach that best suits your financial position. It may seem like unwise advice to look at your IP and decide which requires a attorney to review it is sometimes a hard decision. It is always going to be best to have an attorney review your entire portfolio or idea if possible.
Depending on the character of the industry or niche sometimes hiring an attorney may not have a reasonable potential ROI. For example, a generation startup could need to guard its startup tech IP as strongly as possible, sparing no expense, as this is its major asset. Especially in a fledgling organization where budgets are limited, it's far more useful to first examine the potentialities of using funding on a specific product that will deliver you or the organization a return versus simply submitting all for a patent or other protection.
Step 1: Idea
The starting point is an idea, a vision, an architecture, the "intellectual Property" that may be unique and could be valuable if protected. Click here...
Step 3: Plan
Life goes on and things happen even though IP has been protected. What you have created and protected needs attention too. Click here...
Steps 4 to 7 - Policies, Access, Agreements, Ownership
Important steps to monetization. Create policies surrounding your intellectual property. Understand what access means and how to protect. Create agreements to protect access and value. Document ownership.
Steps 8 to 10 - Audits, Infringement, Documentation
It is important to audit your intellectual property and status of each asset. It is also important to understand what infringement means and the best way to approach whether you are infringing or being infringed. Documentation will ultimately be the most important piece of the monetization process. Think of it as a documented audit trail.