What Every Business Owner Should Know
Your business keeps track of all of its assets, inventorying
what it owns and the value of what it owns. Or does it? It is not
unusual for businesses to focus only on their tangible assets in
considering that issue. Business owners sometimes forget that every
company owns intellectual property, property that is not tangible
but is sometimes more valuable than its tangible assets. The
following are commonly asked questions about a company's
intellectual property assets with answers and information every
company should have to protect all of its assets.
What is the difference between a trademark and a trade
name?
A trade name is the name of your business. It may or may not
also be your trademark. The names that identify your company's
products or services are your company's trademarks. Trademarks can
also be phrases, logos, colors, sounds, and smells. For example,
the color brown is a trademark of UPS.
What do all those symbols stand for?
The use of © represents that you claim a copyright on the work.
It is used regardless of registration. It should always be
accompanied by the year of first publication and the owner's name.
The use of ™ represents that you claim trademark ownership in the
mark preceding it. The mark need not be registered to use ™. SM is
used for trademarks that describe services. The use of ® represents
that the trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
How do I protect my trade name?
Trade names are registered with the Secretary of State or your
County Recorder's Office.
How do I protect my trademarks?
Your trademarks are entitled to some protection based on first
use. By registering a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, you are considered to be constructively using that
trademark throughout the United States. If the trademark you begin
using is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by
someone else, the registered owner is already constructively using
the name in your local area. It is important to always check the
United States Patent and Trademark Office database for trademark
registration before beginning to use a trademark. It is also
important in most situations to register your own trademark with
the Patent and Trademark Office which then protects your trademarks
throughout the Unite States and gives constructive notice that the
marks belong to you.
What is a copyright?
Copyright is the protection of the expression of an idea. Ideas
may be expressed in artistic forms such as in songs, poems,
sculptures and paintings. However, copyrights are also very
important in the business setting. Any tangible expression of an
idea that is created by your business is entitled to copyright
protection. Although copyright protection automatically attaches as
soon as the idea is fixed in a tangible form, the maximum
protection is gained through registering the copyright with the
Library of Congress. Documents, pictures, programs, and other
tangible forms of expression created by your company and
distributed to the public should include the copyright symbol
followed by the year of first publication and the owner's name.
Who owns the copyright on documents or other items created for
my business?
If the item is created by an employee in the course of his or
her job, the company is presumed to own it. If the item is created
by an independent contractor, it is important to have a written
agreement regarding who owns the copyright.
When is it appropriate to seek patent protection?
Patents, unlike trademarks and copyrights, are protected only
when they are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office. If your company creates a product or method whose purpose
is function as opposed to just the expression of an idea, the
functionality of that product or the portions of that product that
are for the purpose of functionality will not be protected by
copyright. In those situations, your company should consider filing
a patent to protect those inventions. It is common to seek patent
protection in unique software programs.
How do I protect my proprietary information and trade
secrets?
Most companies have confidential documents such as customer
lists, business plans, and other internal documents that are not
meant for public viewing. Those documents should be kept
confidential. That is usually done through written agreements with
employees and consultants who have access to the information and
through handling the information in ways which are appropriate for
confidential information. If the company does not treat the
information as confidential, the company will not be successful in
claiming that the information should not be in the hands of its
competitor or any other outside interest.
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