How Intellectual Property Can Give Your Company a Competitive Advantage

The ideas that drive businesses are known as intellectual property. If you or your company has invested time and money into producing a product or service, copycats are unlikely to be condoned. IP also help advance or secure your position in the business by protecting your innovations and brand name.

Patents, trademarks, copyrights are examples of intellectual property protection tools that each serve a separate function and protect different products.

Patents allow you to prevent others from using your valuable inventions. Words, names, symbols, or devices that a business uses to identify and differentiate its goods from those of others are examples of trademarks. And original works of authorship are protected under copyrights.

These are different kinds of intellectual property, and preserving it has been the lifeblood of all of these successful companies.

How can inventions be protected?

When you overhear someone in the lift queue discussing her concept for a better snowboard binding that you’ve previously patented, a patent may provide many options for keeping her—and any other possible infringers—from damaging your business. You might file a case in which you urge the court to claim damages for infringement or to stop an infringer from making bindings that are covered by your patent.

However, filing a lawsuit isn’t the only method to make use of your intellectual rights. You may potentially utilize your patent to raise income by licensing your innovation to the infringer or even offering to sell your patent to the rival outright. In certain cases, just owning a patent deters potential rivals from participating in infringing behaviors for fear of being sued.

What can you do to protect your brand?

Trademarks and are effective tools for protecting your company’s name, product names, logo, and even packaging. Trademarks may also help your products stand out in a crowded industry by making it easier for buyers to identify you.

In addition, trademarks, like patents, can be enforced in court to prevent infringers. When you see someone in the lift queue wearing a ski helmet with your name or logo on it, owning a trademark is crucial to avoid a competitors from stealing your brand’s reputation.

Unlike patents, trademarks can be protected indefinitely as long as they are used.

Don’t be the person in line thinking about everything but how to get as many and the best runs as possible on that beautiful day. Protect your intellectual property ahead of time and carve the ideal line on this essential business asset.