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Learn the critical importance of IP law for startups and how to protect your burgeoning business.
When starting your business, budgets are stretched and its all hands on deck to get the business on its feet.
While there are many elements when you are in the process of developing a business that requires resources, it is important that the protection of your intellectual property is not overlooked.
The protection of your intellectual property includes the protection of your brands, designs, patents and protection of your dramatic, literary, musical and artistic works with Copyright.
While it could be easy for the protection of your intellectual property to fall to the bottom of your to do list but this could have serious consequences for the growth of your business.
Startups and IP Law: Types of intellectual property
Depending on what you need to protect will depend on the type of intellectual property you need to consider:
- Trade marks – Trade marks protect brand names, logos, slogans and product names. Trade marks are a registered right and therefore you need to factor in the time and cost of the application process. In the UK, the process can take around 3-4 months all being well.
- Designs – if you are looking to protect a design, you have two options available to you. You can file an application for a registered design rights which provides you with the right to prevent others from using your design. As long as your design is novel and has individual character, you can achieve protection for up to 25 years. On the other hand, there is an unregistered design right which doesn’t require an application process. This only protects the 3-dimensional shape and configuration of an object and provides protection for a maximum of 15 years.
- Patents– a Patent is another registered intellectual property right which requires an application. A patent protects an invention or process which is new. In order for a patent application to be successful, the invention must be new and must be an inventive step away from anything else in the public domain. The patent process can be a complex one and therefore something you need to get the ball rolling on before the launch of a product or process.
- Copyright– Copyright protection arises automatically when an original literary, dramatic, artistic or musical work is created. The work needs to be original and there must be some skill gone in to its creation. Copyright protection protects the expression of an idea rather than the idea itself and allows you to prevent anyone else from copying a substantial part of your work.
Risks in delaying the protection of your intellectual property
As a Start-up Business owner, the existence of intellectual property rights is inevitable. By delaying the protection of this intellectual property, this opens the door for risk. Taking your brand name for example, by delaying the protection of this brand name as a trade mark can cause a number of issues.
Launching your business under a brand name that hasn’t been explored for trade mark purposes can give rise to a risk that an identical or similar name is already registered as a trade mark by a third party and this lead to you being forced to change your business name – which can be costly after launch.
On the flipside, if you launch your business and fail to protect it with a registered trade mark, you may come across some copycats yourself. The existence of confusingly similar brands within your industry can damage any reputation you are building and could lead to the loss of customers.
Conclusion
When it comes to getting your Start-up on its feet, it is important that the protection of your intellectual property is pushed down the priority list otherwise it could have serious consequences. For a clear intellectual property strategy and an expert to guide you through the process, please get in touch with the team at Lawdit today on 02380235979 or info@lawdit.co.uk
