What are intellectual property rights? These are the rights you have on anything that you have created and that which has economic value. As such, you can protect your creation with the help of these rights. There are valid reasons for protecting intellectual property rights and that is to prevent someone else from passing off your ideas, designs, or creation as their own. The way you will be able to protect your property will depend on the nature of your intellectual property. While only one type of protection might be required for your intellectual property, it is quite likely that there might be others that might require more than one type of IP.
4 ways to protect intellectual property – Know your options
In this write-up, let us find out how to protect intellectual property internationally or within your country. Check them out.
1. Copyrights
Find out what you must be aware of registration and copyrights. It is not unheard of that the moment you create something, write down or record something, you have every right to protect it, and you are entitled to copyright protection. But, remember, protection is not absolute but limited. If you intend to protect your work fully, then registration is compulsory.
Being the creator of any work, you will be entitled to the following rights to-
- You can distribute and publish your work
- Make several copies of your work
- Make different derivatives of the same work
- Perform work
- Display your work
If anyone tries to do any of the above and the work does not belong to him or her, he is liable to face legal consequences.
2. Trademark
Business entities make use of symbols, logos, designs, and catchphrases to make them part of their marketing strategy and to earn a brand identity. with the help of these symbols, as a business, you can bridge the gap with your clients in a better way. If you are wondering, how to protect intellectual property online, you can register your trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office virtually.
However, it is better if you have a trademark lawyer that can represent you with the USPTO. The need for a lawyer is to ensure that you do not fumble in any step or do not commit errors while filing for the same. Remember, trademarks do not have any dates of expiration.
3. Patent
If there is a unique product that you have invented such as the machine, equipment, of a product of any chemical composition, you can protect the product newly invented by filing for a patent with the USPTO online. Most of the patents for intellectual property are valid for a period of 15 years to 20 years from the date of filing. Patents offer legal protection that prevents others from making a copy of your work.
4. Register product, domain names, and businesses
With the help of your intellectual property rights, if you are planning to embark upon a new business, you can render protection to the business by registering the business. The names of the business or the product names are usually registered in the state from where you are operating but the paperwork and requirements usually differ from one state to another.
Aside from the above, 4 ways to protect intellectual property, there are other ways as well. These may include the following-
- Do not go for joint ownership
- Open source It
- Get domain names with exact match
- Protect your creation with strong access controls
- Get Non Disclosure Agreements(NDAs)
- Publish Widely providing attributes
