Can intellectual property be useful for startups? How can entrepreneurs protect their business ideas?
One of the most valuable assets in any startup is intellectual property. Intellectual property, just like any property, should be owned and recognized by the law to avoid disputes over who owns what. For instance, if one starts a company which has invented a certain model, the company must ensure that the model is owned by them and only them through intellectual property rights. Most start up businesses and corporations downplay the idea of intellectual property issues during the early stages of their ventures. It is prudent for startups to evaluate their businesses so that they can choose the most suitable intellectual property rights to get protection for their businesses. However, the law on intellectual property has limitations on what can be protected and what cannot be protected.
The main types of intellectual property that should be understood by startups are patents, trademarks and copyrights. Entrepreneurs can protect their businesses especially if they have new expressions of ideas and inventions through applying for these rights. Patents are important because they protect one’s business most importantly their inventions, from third parties or competitors. Further, if an invention does not have intellectual property rights, it is easier for a competitor to patent it then expose one for infringement despite inventing the particular model which the competitor obtained intellectual property rights for. Some of the most notable patents include Facebook US Patent No. 8,171,128 which protects news feed featured on the facebook application. However, most software startups do not have patents. Trademarks focus more on branding. A trademark can either be a logo, a symbol, a word or particular set of words and so forth. Trademarks are important in businesses because they associate a certain product or service with the business that provides them. For Instance, one of the most famous logo is the Coca- Cola logo. Lastly copyrights protect the expression of ideas. It should be noted that the idea itself cannot be protected but rather the expression of that idea. For instance, a musician cannot copyright the idea of singing a love song but rather, his creativity in composing a love song with particular words, beats and rhythms. Copyrights protect expression of ideas in books, music, arts among others. Another intellectual property right that a company or business may prefer is trade secrets. Trade secrets ensure that an information vital to the company’s existence is kept confidential as long as it stays confidential. For instance, the KFC recipe is protected by trade secrets just like the ingredients for making coca cola products.
As observed by Mark Lezama, a specialist in intellectual property and business management, one of the biggest mistakes that startups make is failing to have or obtain intellectual property rights when they start their businesses and ventures. In most cases, the reason might be financial issues because for one to start a business, a lot of capital is involved hence incorporating obtaining of intellectual property rights becomes least of concerns for entrepreneurs. This may cause trouble in their businesses incase conflicts on intellectual property rights arises in future.
In conclusion, intellectual property rights set businesses apart from their competitors; it may be sold or licensed because of its value therefore generating income for businesses for revenue and it also offers consumers something novel and unique. Therefore, it is prudent for any startup business with new ideas to obtain rights over those ideas like discussed above. The notion that some businesses may not need intellectual property rights is outdated especially in this age of technology and information. This is because it is easier for one to access information on one’s company or business on the internet and if the idea of that business is expressed in a way that can be owned legally, then that means that a competitor might obtain legal possession of the particular expression of the idea or invention making the business owner or the original inventor look like he/she is infringing the rights of the competitor.
References
Chien Colleen, Startups and Patent Trolls (Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 17,461, 2013)
Mark Lezama, Intellectual Property Issues Startup Entrepreneurs should not overlook (2015)
Michael Kasdan, What Startups Need To Know About Intellectual Property (National Law Review, Vol VIII, Number 268, 2018)
Tom Kulik, Risky Business: the five biggest mistakes startups make (Int. Property, 2018)
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