Today’s discussion is around another important topic for small business owners and how to protect their valuable assets, particularly for new business owners. As we discussed in the first segment, new business owners have a lot to consider and so much red tape to navigate.
Intellectual property is a term used to describe trade secrets, patents, trademarks, and copyright. Protecting your intellectual property is an important part of your business, particularly if you are looking to trademark your business’ name, symbol, motto etc., or if your business is based on an invention or involves writing and producing original written works, music, or video content.
Government Resources – Intellectual Property
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices (USPTO), small businesses may often lack the familiarity with the process of protecting their intellectual property. They can often find themselves at a particular disadvantage because they often lack the resources and expertise available to larger corporations. Research conducted in spring 2005 by the USPTO indicates that only 15 percent of small businesses that do business overseas are aware that their IP protection in the U.S. does not travel – that is, that a U.S. patent or trademark provides protection only in the United States. To help address this problem, the USPTO has launched a nationwide program to encourage small businesses to recognize and consider the benefits of strong IP protection-both domestically and abroad.
The USPTO has developed a website to help small businesses better identify and address their IP protection needs. The USPTO is also working with organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers to help spread the word about the benefits of filing for IP protection. Free informational materials, which can be downloaded from this Web site, will help guide small businesses through the often-complicated world of intellectual property protection. There’s also a great FAQ available.
Government Resources – Patents, Trademarks, & Copyrights
Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights are three types of intellectual property protection. They are all different and serve different purposes. Patents protect inventions, and improvements to existing inventions. Trademarks include any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. Service marks include any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services. Copyrights protect literary, artistic, and musical works. For general information on copyright, visit http://www.copyright.gov.
To patent an invention or register a trademark, you’ll need to fill out an application with the USPTO. There’s a lot of consolidated information on this topic here and an easy-to-use/simple FAQ that is really helpful on finding simple definitions and the forms you need.
Other Helpful Forums
- Check out Business.gov for a lot of fundamentals that the small business owner needs to know. As always, government resources are free. No site will ever ask you for credit card information or to login.
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