I don’t agree with making a blanket statement that it’s not worth the time and effort
for small business to secure intellectual property, however I do feel, trying to get a
patent, trademark, or copyrights for every idea one has, will be financial burden,
which small business can’t always afford.
If a small business owner believes that their intellectual property is something that
will bring a healthy measure of profit their way, then getting rights to protect their
intellectual property makes sense. At the same time, not every single idea is worth
spending a lot of time, and money to get patented. It’s a complicated situation for a
business owner to be in. Business owners should educate themselves, consult with
an expert in the field of your intellectual property and gather as much information
as possible. Hiring a patent agent will also help in determining the scope of what is
and isn’t protectable. Getting a good lawyer who can assist with the whole process
will help to ensure that people won’t use loopholes to try going around your patent,
and use your intellectual property, without any consequences. The business owner
also needs to file for the patent as early as possible because in most countries, the
person who files first, is the one who gets awarded the patent. You can’t file too
early either, because without a lot of information, there’s a greater risk of losing
your resources to pursue an idea that doesn’t have much merit.
Having a patent on your intellectual property gives you an edge with investors and
sets you apart from competition. There’s a woman named Tracey Deschaine, who
owns a restaurant in Ocean City, New Jersey. Ms. Deschaine had trademarked a
name, logo and name of her signature item, which she calls upcakes, which are
upside down frosted cupcakes. Ms Deschaine thought, since she had trademarked
that name, no one else would try to use it. The problem, she says, was that even
though she had obtained the trademarks, someone monitoring the activity on the
United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Web site had spotted her application
and secured upcakes.com as the Web address, or U.R.L., before she could. “I had
no idea that even though I have a trademark, someone else could just go and
register the U.R.L.” Ms. Deschaine said. “I wish I had planned ahead and bought
the site before I did that”. The example of Ms. Deschaine is just one of how people
can try to go around any loopholes they can find, to use your intellectual property.
Business owners need to invest the time to educate themselves on rights of
property, so people can’t profit from their products. Small business should protect
secure their intellectual property, but also have realistic understanding of what the
costs of pursuing any patents or trademarks will be, and if they have the resources
to pursue them.
