Thursday, April 27, 2006

Protect Your Intellectual Properties or Watch Them Vanish Overnight

An intellectual property is any product of the human intellect that is unique, novel, neither overt nor obvious, and which has some value in the marketplace. No matter what sort of enterprise you operate, you are almost certainly the possessor of at least one intellectual property.

It may be the distinctive packaging wrapped around the knobblewockers you manufacture, your unique selling proposition (USP), how you handle and resolve complaints, or even how you go about effectively collecting your dues.

Intellectual properties have no requirement for flamboyance. They can be as dull as ditch water but what they do require is the protection of their value to you in the marketplace.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES

They come in all shapes and sizes, they can be tangible or intangible, but they have one thing in common: their uniqueness.

An idea. Ideas are the lifeblood of any business but many of them float around unprotected in the turbulent seas of commercial practice. The idea that launched your enterprise is an intellectual property. Countless others may also be using it but the version you employ carries your particular mark. Protect it.

Invention. Conversely, the premise on which your business operates may be of your own devising, an invention that as such is especially vulnerable to illicit replication by others. Protect it.

Expression or literary creation. It could be a book, a thesis, a poem, or an illustration, but incredibly you don't necessarily require to create this type of intellectual property all by yourself. Others may do it for you. Through popular usage, expressions such as ‘I’m doing a Delia' and 'Going for a Delia' have recently found their way into Collins Concise Dictionary.

Unique brand name. Peter Dyson may have sold the reproduction rights of his unique vacuum cleaner but the brand name Dyson will live on in perpetuity.

Business method. Could be as simple as how you market your produce, simple in your eyes perhaps but conceivably the envy of others. Protect it.

Industrial process. Maybe you employ an unusual process in the production of your knobblewockers, something that the competition would love to lay their hands on. Protect it.

Chemical formula. Same principle involved, same protection required. The recipe for Coca-Cola, for example, has remained a family secret for many generations.

Computer program process - Think about this: the man who invented the electronic 'mouse' does not and never will receive a penny in royalties because he failed to protect his intellectual property. It all goes to the company that employed him during the time he was developing his unique application. Countless millions use his invention every day from which he earns zilch.

Presentation. How you package your produce, how you lay out your stall, how you make your sales pitch: every unique form of presentation is an intellectual property that must be preserved.

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