Business owners have a number of aspects to protect if they want to keep their businesses competitive and successful. Because they certainly want any physical property they have to remain safe from thieves or vandalism, they often put various security measures in place, like guards and surveillance cameras. Of course, physical property is not the only important type of business property that needs protecting.
As a business owner, you undoubtedly know the value of your ideas and the ideas of others as well as how big of an impact an image or phrase could have on your company. Much of this type of information is known as intellectual property, and you may want to understand how a copyright, patent or trademark is applicable to your situation.
Trademarks
When it comes to a trademark, a company can easily become recognizable by a single image, word, design or phrase. Companies often utilize these factors to help consumers quickly recognize their brands and know that the product meets the quality standards of the company. Brand names, logos and slogans can all fall into the category of a trademark. In general, you do not need to register your trademark for it to have protections, but taking the step to do so could only further protect your brand.
Additionally, in order for a word, phrase or image to fall under a trademark, it must have a distinctive nature, meaning that most people would recognize it as the symbol or phrase of your company.
Copyright
In a similar vein to trademarks, you do not have to actively obtain a copyright but you can. If you have created an original work, such as a book, song or art piece, you automatically obtain copyright protections of that intellectual property. However, you must have originally created the work. By having copyright protections, you can control how any of your works go out to the public.
Patent
Patents typically come into use when you create a new invention or create an improvement to an already existing invention. Unlike trademark and copyright protections, the creation of a new invention or improvement does not automatically mean that you have a patent. Rather, you must apply for a patent and hope to gain approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Protecting intellectual property can prove tricky, and you may not know whether your information and creations have the protections you desire them to have. Fortunately, you do not have to guess and risk losing your IP to another company. You can speak with an attorney about your options for protecting your IP and what protections you may already have.