Question

(d) In addition to patents, what methods can firms use to protect their

intellectual property? How do these methods and patents compare in effectiveness?

Answer 1

Intellectual Property Protection is protection for inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, and images created by the mind. In order to best safeguard their hard-earned creations and thoughts from unfair competition, entrepreneurs and company owners need to know the basics of intellectual property (IP) legislation. Intellectual property includes your created distinctive items and those that give you an economic benefit.

1. Trademarks- A trademark is a word, sentence, symbol or design that separates from its rivals the origin of a company ' goods (trademarks) or services (service marks). The mark must be unique to qualify for patent protection. The Nike "swoosh" design, for instance, defines Nike's athletic footware. While trademark rights are obtained through use, registration with the USPTO enables you to implement those rights more readily. Before registering your trademark, conduct a search of federal and state databases to make sure a similar trademark doesn't already exist.

2. Trade Secrets- A trade secret is a formula, process, device, or other business information that companies keep private to give them a business advantage over their competitors. Examples of trade secrets include:

• Soda formulas
• Customer lists
• Survey results
• Computer algorithms

Look at rivals and others in the sector as if they are competing for your thoughts when protecting intellectual property. The best way to ensure that no one else can use your unique inventions, works, marks or other thoughts is to protect yourself and your business. Meet staff often to maintain them informed of what needs to remain out of public discussion and away from rivals. It is also essential to protect thoughts both physically and digitally, so monitor who has access and restrict who can enter significant databases.

3. Copyrights- Copyrights safeguard authorship initial works such as literary works, music, drama works, pantomimes and choreographic works, sculptural, pictorial and graphic works, sound recordings, artistic works, architectural works, and computer software. The owner has the exclusive right to alter, distribute, execute, generate, display and copy the job with copyright protection. The work must be corrected in a concrete medium of speech in order to qualify under copyright laws, such as phrases written on a piece of paper or music notes written on a sheet. From the time the work is produced, a copyright exists, so registration is voluntary.