IP Rights Trademark Registration

How to Ensure the Protection of Intellectual Property

In today’s market scenario there is a lot of existing competition in every field. In order to carve a niche for your business, you are required to come up with unique and fresh ideas and make them your forte. In order to maintain your competitive advantage, you are required to ensure the protection of intellectual property.

Importance of Protection of Intellectual Property

In order to make sure that your Intellectual property is protected against all kind of infringement, you are required to take initiatives on your end. Simply registration of the intellectual property is not the only solution as your competitors and other market players can work around it and come up with slightly different versions of it.

In such cases, this may seem like a total waste of effort on your part. But, don’t be disheartened. There are a number of other ways you can be vigilant and protect any kind of infringement of your intellectual property rights.

In this article, we will discuss different and effective ways for the protection of intellectual property rights.

Ways of Protection of Intellectual Property

We have listed out a number of different ways you can protect your intellectual property rights. Have a read and started to retain your competitive advantage in the market.

1. Register your Intellectual Property

The first and most important step is to register your idea or invention. This creates a legal right in your favour and discourages the other parties to use it without your knowledge and permission. In case any other party uses the same without your knowledge it leads to infringement of your intellectual property rights. Intellectual property registration is done in the following three types:

Patent Registration: Any new invention including product, any unique method etc. can be protected through Patent registration.

Trademark Registration: You can register the logo of your organization as a Trademark. Such trademarks help in brand building and your organization and products are identified through such trademark. Trademark is basically a combination of word, design, colour or all of them.

Copyright Registration: This copyright registration helps in protection of original work of authorship. Such intellectual property rights can be created against published or unpublished material. Copyright covers books, films, music, movie, computer program etc. 

1. Awareness relating to Intellectual Property Rights

Mere registration of your intellectual property does not mean that you are fully secured from any kind of infringement It is advised that you have a deep understanding of the intellectual property rights created in your favour and laws regulating them. You must have a strong internal policy to protect you IPR to make sure that no unwanted surprise comes your way.

• Execute Non-Disclosure Agreements

It is wise to execute a detailed Non-disclosure agreement^[1] with the employees and partners who are exposed to the knowledge relating to your intellectual property rights. Parties ranging from employees, business partners, contractors etc are to be covered with such non-disclosure agreements. All the provisions relating to their obligation to non-disclose along with punishments and fine in case of any infringement must be included in the agreement.

• Continuous Innovation

If you are involved in the technology sector then even registration of your intellectual property does not provide you with complete protection. Reason being innovation is an evolutionary process. Thus the only way to remain on the competitive advantageous position is to maintain a relentless evolution cycle. This always keeps you one step ahead of your competitors.

• It’s best to avoid Joint Ownership

People often say that the survival rate as a pack is better. However, when it is about intellectual property rights it is best to avoid joint ownership. As no two people think alike it is bound to create problems and conflicts in the future. Thus it is better to avoid such a situation in the first place and avoid joint ownership for the protection of intellectual property rights.

• Reserve matching Domains

When you are planning for building a brand it is best to secure your intellectual property/ trademark in all the ways possible. One such way is to reserve a domain matching with your trademark, this helps the customer relate it to your business and identify your products easily. This may feel like an added expense but it ensures complete brand protection.

• Don’t limit all the work with One Team

If you are working on a new product then it is recommended not to assign the entire development work to one team. This increases the list of IPR infringement. Thus, to be on the safe side you should divide and allow the work to more than two teams so that no one has the knowledge of the entire process of development. As we know prevention is better than cure. To avoid unwanted litigation fees information security on the first step is preferred.

• Formulate access control policies

As the Intellectual property is intangible you must take special precautions for its storage and access limitation. You must set up an access control policy so that every attempt to access it can be tracked. Even if as a result of your business set up you are planning to assign any rights in relation to such intellectual property than the process of such assignment shall also be clearly defined and free of ambiguity.

• Advertise it as your Intellectual Property

There is no better way to protect your intellectual property is to advertise it and letting everyone know that it was developed by you. That way it is automatically associated and attributed to your organization. This way no other party can lay a claim on your registered intellectual property.

• Apply for Foreign registration

Any intellectual property registration done will only protect your IPR in your particular country. If you are planning to venture into the international market then it is recommended that you research the intellectual property laws in those countries and apply for it. For example, if you plan for International Trademark Registration than you are required to apply through WIPO specifying the name of the countries you want to secure your trademark. The fees of registration will depend upon the number of the jurisdiction you wish to apply for. Different countries have different kinds of laws relating to intellectual property registration. Thus, to ensure the protection of-of your intellectual property you must research in advance. For example, in the case of patent registration, some countries state that you must apply for patent registration before publicly advertising it. However, in other countries, you are required to register it within a span of one year from publicly disclosing it.

We hope this article has clarified your doubts relating to the protection of intellectual property. In case you have any doubt relating to the same or are willing to register your Intellectual property then our team of experts at Enterslice is ready to serve you. You can contact us by dropping us an email at info@enterslice.com